he group has but one mission - to officially nominate the Gore-Lieberman presidential ticket - but members of the Massachusetts delegation to the Democratic National Convention have varied agendas, opinions, and political slants.
There are those, including House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, who do not favor abortion rights, but who will be casting ballots for a duo that does. And there are those, including state Senator Stephen Lynch, who support school choice, but who will be voting for a vice president who is against it.
However, for the state's 131 delegates and alternates, the trip this week to Los Angeles is as much about them - their state's inner political workings, their own ambitions, and their free time in the Hollywood Hills - as it is about nominating Vice President Al Gore and US Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut.
For one member of the delegation, US Senator John F. Kerry, it's about what might have been, had Gore selected him as his running mate.
There are five potential gubernatorial candidates in the group, many of whom will be seeking the spotlight, raising money, networking, or hosting soirees.
''Anytime you get as many politically active people together ... there's going to be talk of political futures. It's inevitable. It's what people enjoy,'' said Mark White, executive director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino, vacationing in Las Vegas along the way, will spend much of his time lobbying to bring the DNC to Boston in 2004, following the city's failed attempt to host the convention this year. Menino also has access to sit on the stage throughout the convention, which is considered ''really cool,'' according to an official in his office.
US Senator Edward M. Kennedy has a prime-time speech to deliver Tuesday. Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham has a roommate from his Harvard days to visit. And US Representative Martin T. Meehan has campaign-finance reform to tout at the shadow convention Tuesday. Well, that's just part of Meehan's program, as he considers running for governor.
''I'm also giving a speech before the shadow convention on Wednesday, also on the subject of campaign-finance reform. And I'm having a reception on Tuesday,'' Meehan said. ''I'm doing a lot of the national media stuff, too.''
The entire Massachusetts delegation - including other potential gubernatorial candidates Steve Grossman, Finneran, Birmingham, and state Treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien - is invited to the Meehan reception at the home of a Hollywood player, Lynn Wasserman.
Wasserman, whose father was head of the Motion Picture Association of America, has never met Meehan. He offered to host the event after hearing the Lowell congressman talk of money in politics and the impeachment of President Clinton.
However, Hollywood entertainment for the delegation goes far beyond Wasserman's house. There's a party at the Museum of Contemporary Art tonight . And former senator Lois Pines of Newton has been selling $150 tickets to the delegation for Thursday's Barbra Streisand concert.
White bought one of those tickets, but won't be able to attend. ''This is work all week for me,'' he said over a cell phone as he rolled down the freeway in Los Angeles one day last week. ''I just have to make sure everybody else is content.''
That may not be difficult to accomplish, given the mix of movie stars, cocktail parties, and Southern California sunshine.
Delegate Jarrett Barrios, a legislator from Cambridge who claims to be the state's first Hispanic elected through the convention's caucus process, is already looking forward to salsa dancing at a slew of Latino parties he may attend.
''This is, I believe, the most diverse delegation we've ever sent,'' with equal numbers of men and women and about 10 percent minority, said Barrios, who is gay. ''If you're talking about social issues, I would say our delegation is at least as conservative as the ticket,'' which, with Lieberman, has moved to the political center. ''On fiscal issues, I think that it's a very safe bet to say that we are to the left.''
