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EDITORIAL
Op-Ed; Romney elevates policy over politics
THOMAS M. KEANE JR.

11/22/2002
Boston Herald
All Editions
033
(Copyright 2002)

I don't think Mitt Romney gets it.

This should be his time for revenge, for crowing about victory, for rubbing his wide margin in the faces of those who opposed him.

Instead he comes out with a 97-person transition team whose members include independents and Democrats. They're all heavyweights, running organizations ranging from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care to Staples to United Way.

Where are the hacks? Where are the sycophants? Doesn't he understand how the game is supposed to be played?

A case in point: Tripp Jones.

Only 37 years old, Jones has been a political activist since college. He started out working for Gov. Michael Dukakis' presidential campaign, eventually becoming assistant to the state secretary for administration and finance. From there, he went on to the staff of Democratic state Rep. Mark Roosevelt. When Roosevelt challenged Gov. William Weld in 1994, Jones ran his campaign. After that loss, he helped set up a think-tank with a ponderous name, the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth. Most everyone calls it MassINC. Chris Gabrieli, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor this time around, was co-chair of the board and a big donor. In fact, Gabrieli maintains his office right down the hall from Jones.

Jones, obviously, is a Democrat's Democrat. And, just as obviously, he should be the last person a new Republican administration would be talking to.

So what's Romney doing, calling him just after the election?

Jones had walked into his office. On his voice mail was a message from the governor-elect.

"You mean, of course, that it was some underling who called," I say.

No, it was Romney himself.

Romney asked him to head up his education transition team. This is the group that will recommend new hires to the governor-elect, suggesting some specifics of the new administration's policies.

"And the quid pro quo?"

Nothing. No litmus test. No promises of loyalty. No requests that he change his party affiliation.

To be sure, in an ideal world, Jones would be the kind of person you'd want to see helping devise public policy. While on Roosevelt's staff, he was a key player in drafting the state's landmark education-reform bill. The mission of his brainchild, MassINC, is to promote "the growth and vitality of the middle class." Its well- researched policy papers were the basis of almost every candidate's briefing book. MassINC has taken the lead in education reform, championing causes such as the MCAS, charter schools and worker training. Jones, in fact, sits on the board of a charter high school, City on a Hill.

And while knowledgeable about a range of issues, Jones is passionate about education. "It's clear that education is the single most important factor" driving the economic status of families, he says.

But Massachusetts isn't an ideal world. Here, we like to brag, politics is a blood sport. Grudges are held for generations.

Doesn't Romney understand this? Could it be that when he talked during the campaign about working together to solve problems, he was actually being sincere?

Could be.

Romney certainly had his flaws as a candidate. On the campaign trail he seemed stiff, wooden and uncomfortable. The qualities that had earned him respect in boardrooms and at the Olympics were hard to find.

But the day after his win, he was a man transformed: confident, knowledgeable, direct. He answered questions concisely, saying what he knew and admitting what he did not.

And Romney's transition team only heightened the sense that he had the makings of a very different kind of governor. The team, divided into six substantive groups (health care, the economy, public safety, transportation and housing, environment and education) draws upon an array of talents, seemingly without regard for where people stood in the general election. Jones' group, for example, includes Wilfredo Laboy, superintendent of the Lawrence Public Schools (and a leading opponent of the bilingual education referendum that Romney favored) and Grace Fey, chair of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees.

Not surprisingly, Jones says he's gotten calls from Democrats "angry" or "disappointed" with him for serving on the transition team.

"But this is a critical time for Massachusetts," he says. "There is a time and a place for good, hard-core partisanship, and a time for governing effectively, for moving the state forward."

True enough. But elevating policy over politics? Solving problems instead of settling scores? If Romney follows through on his early promise, Massachusetts politics may never be the same.

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

Caption: MITT ROMNEY: No grudges in his game plan.