Democrats, say they have continued to dominate in state because they have captured the large moderate block in the electorate, most of whom are registered in neither party. The vote worked to their advantage in 1982, when Democrats--again with the exception of Silvio Conte--won every congressional race, the gubernatorial race, and the Senate race, with at least 58 percent of the vote. Rep. Barney M. Frank '62 (D-Newton Highland) swamped his Republican opponent Margaret M. Heckler, now secretary of Health and Human Services in the Reagan Administration, by a three-to-two margin in what had been expected to be a tight race.

Frank says the Democratic landslide in the state two years ago is proof that Reagan-brand conservatism is not a big draw in the state. Shamie, touting Reaganite ideology, pumped $2.3 million, most of it his own money, into his '82 Senate campaign against Ted Kennedy, but still received only 38 percent of the general election vote.

"We keep winning because the Republican party is moving ideologically further right," Frank says. "We have no real organizational strength around the state; the Republicans are just an extreme right-wing party."

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State Republican leaders, while lamenting their party's fortunes, appear to have no real remedy for their problems. The strategy conducted by younger, more conservative Republicans of identifying with the President may not pay off. Much of the Reagan support came from a dislike of Jimmy Carter, not because the state had made a rightward swing. The true test will be in November, when Reagan takes on the Dukakis machine in the state.

Despite the profusions of the party's right wing and the recent success of candidate Shamie, there is little evidence that the Republicans will begin offering a spate of Jack Kemp clones for statewide office to the exclusion of party moderates.

Natsios, considered one of the most astute politicians in the party, is a strong supporter of Vice-President Bush, and has few kind words for the populist-conservative movement that controlled the party platform in Dallas. He predicts that most of the Republican brass will support the more moderate Bush in the '88 Presidential sweepstakes.

Though Reagan may pull a few local legislators into office on his coattails, the Republicans will need a more permanent boost to break out of their decade-long doldrums. Despite the Republican Party's strong pro-business stance, the corporate money in Massachusetts is going to the Democrats.

Republican legislators, both moderate and conservative, openly play with the idea of scrapping the Republican Party and starting up a new group. But given the cold war between the two wings of the party, the would-be party-former would be hard pressed to give it a name.

The Liberal-Monetarist Party?