ith voters approving his income tax initiative this month, Governor Paul Cellucci may feel buoyed by a needed political victory, but he is facing some potential turbulence: a newly energized Democratic Party that wants to target his administration. On Wednesday the state Democrats elected Phil Johnston, a former Marshfield legislator and state human services secretary, as their chairman. Johnston is vowing to go toe to toe with the Republican administration. Johnston, who won the party post by acclamation, says he will set up a ''shadow government'' that will monitor the Cellucci administration and propose Democratic alternatives to the Republican's programs. He said he will choose experts in the relative fields to shadow each of Cellucci's secretariats. ''I don't want to do it in a cheap way, but rather in a substantive way,'' Johnston said. Johnston replaces state Senator Joan Menard of Somerset, whose low-key style disappointed some party activists, who felt the state party should be aggressively challenging the Republican administration. That can't be good news for Cellucci or Lieutenant Governor Jane M. Swift, if the governor bolts for a job in a Bush administration.
A little help from his GOP friends
With public employee unions and other special interests pouring millions of dollars into the campaign to stop his tax cut, Cellucci turned to the national Republicans for help in making sure the ballot question won voter support. According to campaign finance records, the National Republican Committee made two contributions to Cellucci's campaign for Question 4, giving $50,000 on Oct. 27 and $25,000 three days later. Cellucci put his prestige and political future on the line in his push for the income tax cut. Normally, the RNC concerns itself with electing Republican presidents, senators and representatives. But Cellucci aides said the RNC's involvement in a ballot question in Massachusetts stemmed from the fact that it was a tax cut issue. ''They think that if you can win a tax cut in Massachusetts, that's a good story for Republicans nationally,'' said one aide.
State representative is the picture of democracy in Florida's recount
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris might have been the biggest media star in the Florida recount wars, but there was plenty of publicity to go around. Astute readers, for example, might have recognized a face in Wednesday's national pages peering intently at pregnant chads - none other than state Representative Jarrett Barrios of Cambridge. Barrios got a three-fer that day: his photo appeared in the Globe (where he was wearing a jacket), The New York Times (where he was jacket-free), and the Miami Herald (the only one of the trio that printed his name in the caption). It turns out that he was working as a Democratic lawyer in Miami-Dade County, inspecting disputed ballots as photographers streamed through the room. Over the course of several days, he also observed a machine recount in Palm Beach County and collected affidavits from West Palm Beach voters. All for the good of democracy - and possibly Vice President Al Gore - but Barrios confessed last week he was happy to be home. ''I'm chadded out,'' he said. Still, he might be back for more; if there's a statewide Florida recount, he'll probably help again. Look for his face in a newspaper near you.
Natsios not making any predictions
With Massachusetts native and former transportation secretary Andrew Card strolling around the Texas ranch with possible president-elect George W. Bush and possible vice president-elect Dick Cheney, suspicions abounded last week that Turnpike chairman Andrew Natsios was packing his bags for a - possible - spot in a new administration. ''Given that the election remains uncertain, and most important that he hasn't been asked or approached, it would be presumptuous of him to assume that an opportunity would present itself at this point,'' said Natsios spokesman Joseph Landolfi. Natsios makes no secret of the fact that he doesn't love his job, cleaning up Big Dig finances and seeing the difficult work through its final years. In fact, Natsios says he's got six of the 12 tasks the governor set for him done, and has indicated he won't be staying on till the ribbon is cut on the lanes underneath downtown Boston. Receiving an award from the transportation group MOVEMass recently, Natsios again drew a contrast between himself and his predecessor, James J. Kerasiotes, who earned no points when he was quoted last spring denigrating Cellucci and other administration officials. ''I know he's my boss, and I know he's not afraid of me,'' Natsios quipped.
Salary of ex-lawmaker Kennedy gets boost from charity-based firm
Former US Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, who sources say was not happy that his late brother, Michael, made more than $600,000 as head of charity-based Citizens Energy Corp., kept his own salary in check after taking over the firm. Records filed this month show that Kennedy earned $283,572 in 1999 from all the nonprofit and for-profit divisions of the Citizens company. That is about twice what he made as a congressman, enough apparently to let him drive a Jaguar around town.
Republican Party needs kick start
Cellucci is frequently blamed for the dismal condition of the state Republican party, which produces few candidates for local office. But anyone listening to recent farewell speeches from the House floor found plenty of evidence that it's not the governor, but legislative Republicans, who need to get a bit more vigorous about ensuring a two-party system. The GOP members gushed about Democratic House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran. Departing Representative Barbara C. Hyland of Foxborough said: ''As a Republican, I am one of your biggest fans, Mr. Speaker. You have done a wonderful job leading this group.'' Others threw similar bouquets at the speaker's feet. Only Republican Ronald W. Gauch of Shrewsbury bemoaned the party's diminished state, noting that when he was elected in 1992 there were 35 GOP members, now there are 24. Gauch ended his remarks, telling the other House members: ''Thank you and if any of you are on the Cape in the summer or Naples in the winter, please stop by for a cup of coffee.'' Finneran cracked: ''I have the address on the Cape and in Naples, and it will be a lot more than coffee that we stop by for.''
Globe Staff writers Frank Phillips, Joanna Weiss, and Thomas C. Palmer and Globe correspondent Regina Montague contributed to this report.
