OWELL - Massachusetts Democrats gathered yesterday for a state party convention that featured the nomination of US Senator Edward M. Kennedy for a seventh term, as well as early jockeying among party leaders eyeing a run for governor in 2002.
Effectively kicking off his November re-election bid, Kennedy delivered an energetic acceptance speech to the more than 2,000 party activists who had gathered at the Tsongas Arena.
The address was a traditional Democratic call to arms that touched on health care, education, gun control, and civil rights, as well as the memory of his slain brothers, Robert and John F. Kennedy.
''I continue to be guided by my brothers' ideals,'' Kennedy said, vowing to fight for ''prosperity, for fair economic growth, and for social justice all across Massachusetts and all across America.''
Kennedy also pledged to raise the federal minimum wage, strengthen protections for HMO patients, and fight efforts to privatize Social Security.
Kennedy was introduced by his son, Patrick, a Rhode Island congressman, who emphasized his father's decades of service in the Senate.
Kennedy did not mention his possible Republican opponent, millionaire businessman Jack E. Robinson, who is still struggling to win a place on the November ballot. Robinson has collected just a few hundred more than the necessary 10,000 signatures, but may fall short if his petition signatures are disqualified.
While Kennedy was the day's main attraction, delegates were also speculating about the numerous party leaders who are thinking about a run for governor in two years.
Among them were Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, Secretary of State William F. Galvin, state Treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien, House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, and former state senator Warren Tolman.
Former Democratic National Committee chairman Stephen Grossman, who has already declared his candidacy, also roamed the convention floor.
As usual, the potential candidates greeted delegates and activists with clever gimmicks and bands of organized volunteers.
O'Brien and Grossman, for instance, each outfitted dozens of their supporters with T-shirts bearing the candidate's names. Grossman's featured an Andy Warhol-style design that reproduced his face multiple times in neon colors.
Galvin, meanwhile, had supporters distribute cans of fruit juice bearing a picture of his face and the slogan, ''He's got the juice!''
Only Birmingham spent little time on the convention floor, instead holding meetings with small groups of delegates in a private room. Some detractors whispered the practice showed Birmingham was averse to nitty-gritty campaigning.
But Birmingham made no apologies, saying the private meetings allowed ''a rational, quiet discussion.'' He called them ''far superior to the superficial slap on the back, `Hi-how-are-ya,''' exchanges on the noisy floor.
The day's end left a group of campaign-finance reform activists enraged. The supporters of a 1998 voter-approved ''Clean Elections'' law had hoped to add language to the party platform affirming the law and calling on legislative leaders not to undermine the measure.
The activists were told a quorum was not present and their motion was gaveled down. They argued that moments earlier Galvin had been able to pass a motion calling on Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan not to raise interest rates again.
