The Boston Phoenix beams that for once, progressive voters have a choice between two credible candidates, frontrunners. The deal may come down to style: Tsongas laid-back, reflective, discoursing on the complexity of the issues; Guzzi displaying a tad of Jimmy-Carter-like nuclear-peanut hyperbole.
Tsongas has the edge right now, with a late TV surge stressing his experience, the federal money he finagled to rehab downtown Lowell, and his familiarity with foreign policy and energy issues. But the experience line might not work against Ed Brooke.
One of the many candidates for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate is Paul Guzzi '65, currently the Secretary of State.
Guzzi proposes a moratorium on the construction of nuclear power facilities, supports the Kennedy-Corman National Health program as well as a tax-based income policy, and favors an $18.1 billion tax cut.
Since his name is on every piece of state stationery, Guzzi has one big advantage over most of the other candidates in this race--people know his name. However, it should be noted that he waited until Brooke's divorce trials really heated up to declare that he would be running.
Senator
The conservative's conservative, Avi Nelson, has come from the world of radio talk shows to mount what could be a serious challenge to Sen. Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass.) for the Republican nomination.
The Jewish Republican from Brookline built his political reputation on an aggressive anti-busing platform, and he has gained a reputation as holding a strong anti-minority line, coming out against such programs as affirmative action.
But the challenger to the more liberal Brooke has declared he will win in a close race, and observers generally agree the contest should be tight. The GOP primary is expected to draw a heavy voter turnout which many feel will benefit Brooke.
Lately, Nelson has fought off some adverse publicity in the wake of a Boston Globe story about his involvement in a commodity options firm run by his wife. Nelson dismissed as "rehash" the deal in which $300,000 in options were sold and later found to be worthless.
Despite 12 years of incumbency and strong party support Brooke campaigned feverishly this summer because of the spectre created by his well-publicized divorce case.
Brooke spent a part of July and August in court explaining misstatements on a divorce deposition which he claims were never used in the initial divorce proceedings. The divorce is settled and the Middlesex and Sussex County district attorneys investigated the mistatements and found them not to be pertinent, but obviously, some question may remain.
With renewed party support, topped off by an endorsement by Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.), Brooke has stressed his seniority and record in attempting to erase the effects of the court case.
Brooke has worked extensively for senior citizens and as a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee he was instrumental in creating interest-paying checking accounts in New England.
Kathleen Sullivan Alioto, Democratic candidate for the Senate, is thus far famous for three things. First, she is pregnant; second, Frank Sinatra is raising money for her campaign; third, her husband is former San Francisco Mayor Joseph P. Alioto, and he is really hitting the stumps here. None of these factors is likely to win her election to the Senate this fall, and they are rapidly creating the impression that there isn't much else to Ms. Alioto besides that nice smile she carries.
In fact, Alioto has a fairly decent record to show for her four years on the Boston School Committee and there really is some substance behind the fluff. During her first year on the committee she appeared at a Hyde Park anti-busing meeting and stood up to the hooting crowd, telling them that their children, no matter what, were going to receive an integrated education.
In short, there is a woman with a mind behind the shopping baskets full of food that she walks around with. Alioto has a ton of money, but she seems to have run her campaign on trying to create an image, rather than an image of the issues, and what can you do with someone like that?
Most people think that Elaine Noble doesn't stand a chance in this one. It's one thing to be a woman running for the Senate, but if you match that up with a very crowded race for the Democratic nomination and throw in the fact that Noble has openly supported gay rights, victory seems impossible.
In a campaign that has attracted nation-wide attention because Noble herself is a lesbian, she has affirmed her abilities as a pragmatic, tough politician. As a state representative for Boston, Noble is a lot more liberal than most of Beacon Hill, but she has been willing to compromise on certain issues in order to be effective.
Noble showed a lot of promise early in the campaign, which, by the way, she got into earlier than most of the candidates running for Brooke's seat. Back then, even Tip O'Neill had kind words for her.