of W. Cleon Skousen's "The Nuked Capitalist," a book which argues that Communism is part of a larger conspiracy by international bankers and industrialists to take over the world.

He has also been closely associated with populist-conservative gurs Richard Viguerie, publisher of the Conservative Digest, who donsted $1000 to Shamie's 1984 campaign, included him on his list of 500 top givers to pop-con causes, and until recently was reportedly a close Shamie advisor.

These potential liabilities in a state as liberal as Massachusetts have largely been overshadowed by the force of Shamie's personality and his Identification with the President. He has made his appeal largely personal, speaking in down-home homilies and presenting himself in as non-ideological a light as possible.

Ultimately, however, Shamie's fate rests in the hands of his mentor and ally Ronald Reagan. Because Shamie has cast himself in the Reagan mold, his candidacy, more than most, will depend on whether Massachusetts Voters are comfortable with the President.

It enough voters believe in the Shamie of the populist tradition and the Reagan approach to life and government, and reject the John Birch Society and NCPAC, then the Boy State may find itself with a Republican complement to Ted Kennedy in the Senate.