ore Bay State Democratic political operatives are hitting the road on behalf of Vice President Al Gore 's presidential campaign. A former state representative, Susan Tracy of Brighton, is helping to organize in Missouri, a tossup state, and Thomas Keady, Northeastern University's director of city relations, will head to Nashville this week to help put together Gore's election night operation.
Teachers open wallets over tax plan
The Massachusetts Teachers Association has finally put up some big bucks in the fight against the tax-cut ballot question pushed by Governor Paul Cellucci. The association, which represents more than 80,000 education professionals, kicked in $425,000 to the Campaign for Massachusetts Future kitty on Oct. 5, according to recent reports. That's more than double the amount given by any other union contributors, who are paying more than 90 percent of the campaign's bills. The MTA, the chief financier of the 1990 campaign to defeat an even deeper tax cut initiative petition, had contributed $75,000. The $425,000 does not include a separate $350,000 authorized by the MTA's national parent organization, the National Education Association.
In strange bedfellows department how time can heal many wounds ...
The scars from the bitter 1994 US Senate race in which Senator Edward M. Kennedy had to pull out all the stops to beat back the spirited challenge by Republican Mitt Romney, seem well-healed, as may have been shown by a fund-raiser a week ago Friday in Lexington.
Romney's campaign treasurer, Judy Pagliuca, and her husband, Stephen Pagliuca, a former partner of Romney's at Bain Capital, were among the sponsors of a big-bucks event for Kennedy at the home of some longtime Democratic activists. Other sponsors were a former top Kennedy aide, Nick Littlefield, and his wife, Jenny.
The Pagliucas' involvement caught some old Romney allies by surprise. But perhaps they missed the rapprochement that the two old foes reached in September when Romney, a prominent member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, invited Kennedy to the new Mormon temple in Belmont and escorted him through the building.
... and how a small gesture gets big
Speaking of healed wounds: Former US Representative Chester Atkins, the Concord Democrat who lost his seat in a bitter 1992 primary battle to Martin T. Meehan of Lowell, showed up at Meehan's father's wake and stood in line for an hour to get in. Considering the fact that Meehan and Atkins have put their differences aside and are friendly these days, his appearance to pay respects to Martin ''Buster'' Meehan was not unexpected. But what impressed the Meehan family was that Atkins refused an offer to go to the head of the line, a courtesy that had been extended to the congressional delegation and other dignitaries.
Are they slow on the voter uptake? A survey of candidates wonders
Only 27 percent of the state's legislative candidates returned surveys to Project Vote Smart, a Montana nonpartisan group that sought their positions on 17 issues, from abortion to Social Security. The group sent the questionnaires out nationally; Massachusetts' return record was one of the worst in the country, reflecting what Vote Smart said were candidates out of step with voters.
Ex-prosecutor aims at new targets
She lasted longer than most prosecutors, but after 20 years in public service, the Middlesex assistant district attorney, Frances A. McIntyre, has left government life to work for a Boston law firm specializing in ... medical malpractice? You read correctly. McIntyre last week entered private practice at Ficksman & Conley, where she will focus on medical malpractice, premises liability, and criminal defense. McIntyre said she often handled medical and psychiatric material when prosecuting criminal cases. ''What happened medically can tell you what happened criminally at a crime scene,'' she said. Before joining Martha Coakley 's staff in 1999, where she directed the domestic violence division, McIntyre served as chief of Attorney General Scott Harshbarger 's criminal bureau. She was also a prosecutor in Plymouth and Norfolk counties.
This just in from the city's TABs An editor gets post from Hizzoner
Mayor Thomas M. Menino has appointed DeWayne Lehman as new deputy press secretary. Lehman was formerly director of the executive office of communications and city cable for Somerville, and had worked as urban managing editor for Community Newspaper Co., where he edited the city TABs. Menino's press secretary, Carole Brennan, previously led the TABs as publisher.
Correction: An item in last Sunday's Political Capital column reported that Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift had received advice from a former Weld fund-raiser, Peter Berlandi, on responding to controversies about her use of staff members for personal chores. Berlandi did not advise Swift. The item also referred to Scott Harshbarger, a Democrat, as a Berlandi friend. Berlandi and Harshbarger are not personal friends and Berlandi supported Governor Paul Cellucci in the 1998 race for governor.
Brian C. Mooney, Frank Phillips, Tina Cassidy, Stephanie Ebbert, and Sacha Pfeiffer, all of the Globe Staff, contributed to this report.
