Op-Ed; Mass. voters love checks, balances

THOMAS M. KEANE JR.
832 words
1 March 2002
Boston Herald
All Editions
025
English
(Copyright 2002)

Forget the economy. This year's gubernatorial election may well hinge on something completely different: who can be the best cop.

The drama of this year's race has little to do with the issues the candidates are talking about. Reduced-cost prescription drugs? Suburban sprawl? Affordable housing? All terrific issues, to be sure but - yawn - they aren't the stuff that will stir the average voter's soul.

Moreover, whoever is elected in November may very well be in office eight years from now, at the dawn of a new decade. The issues of today will be long forgotten. The economic slump of the last year will have ended (in fact, it probably already has), the state will have been through a boom (you read it here first) and - who knows? - we could be in the midst of yet another recession.

So how does one choose a governor?

My bet is that if Margaret Marshall, chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, were running, she would win hands down. Surely it is not lost on anyone that it is the court - elite, autocratic, appointed for life and the seeming antithesis of popular democracy - that is actually saving democracy in the state. With both houses of the Legislature blatantly refusing to fund Clean Elections, it is Marshall's court that has had to step in and try to make politicians obey the law.

It's a useful reminder of why the judiciary is so critical to American democracy. When legislatures or executives run amok, courts enforce the rules. It's something most of us are familiar with on the federal level, as the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down laws that violated the U.S. Constitution. As the SJC is now proving, it's a necessary check on the state level as well.

Still, Margaret Marshall is not running for governor. So, who can keep government honest?

The answer, frequently, has been a Republican. That's been the case since 1990: Faced with an overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature, voters have opted for governors who could be a check on the system.

And if voters were skeptical of the Legislature in times past, this year they flat out don't trust it - and for good reason. Speaker Thomas Finneran's autocratic rule in the House, the Clean Elections shenanigans and the budget mess late last year have brought the Legislature to a new low.

That's the reason why acting Gov. Jane Swift, a political afterthought riding lower in the polls than a diving submarine, may yet prove stronger in November than pundits expect. It's also the reason Mitt Romney blew away the field in a Herald poll just released this week. Voters want someone who can stand in opposition to a Legislature they regard as insular, corrupt and heedless of their wishes.

All of which suggests the challenge facing the Democrats: coming up with a candidate who can persuade voters that he or she can ride herd on the Legislature just as effectively as a Republican.

It's certainly possible.

Robert Reich has become an infatuation for many Democrats in large part because he seems outside the system: beholden to no one and willing to speak his mind. The fact that party regulars can't stand him only increases his appeal.

So too with Warren Tolman, who was the big money winner with this week's SJC decision. Just yesterday, he collected his first Clean Elections check for $582,000. Tolman's campaign has been bedeviled by a lack of money; the new funds should finally give him the wherewithal to make his case to voters.

And it's a good case. Tolman risked his entire campaign on finance reform, a claim no one else can make. And he proved himself tough enough to stand up to the Legislature and a storm of brickbats and catcalls along the way.

And the other Democratic candidates? Steve Grossman has positioned himself as an outsider, but for years was the ultimate party man, heading up the Democratic National Committee. It's hard to imagine Senate President Tom Birmingham taking on the Legislature he now helps run. And even state Treasurer Shannon O'Brien, with her father a member of the Governor's Council and her husband a lobbyist, risks being tagged as an insider.

At the June convention and in September's primary, Democrats will need to think hard about what they offer to voters. Rather than the quadrennial grab bag of goodies for every interest group, it would be better to choose a candidate who is independent, willing to question, and willing to take a lonely and sometimes unpopular road when needed. If the party's nominee doesn't have those qualities, Massachusetts may well find itself in for another four years of GOP rule.

Tom Keane can be reached at tomkeane@tomkeane.com.

MITT ROMNEY: Fills (GOP) bill

Document bhld000020020301dy3100022