"Having been accused by John Soto of dementia is like being accused by Rosanne Barr of being fat," Frank says. "It's extraordinarily stupid."

Frank maintains that making people publicly reveal the results of AIDS tests would violate their right to privacy.

"It's incredibly subversive of a public health policy to make people disclose their HIV status, and I won't be a part of that," he says.

And Republican James L.J. Nuzzo, who is also challenging Frank, says that he does not consider the incumbent's health to be a matter of concern.

"Look, I'm a physician, and one of the things I understand is the importance of confidentiality," Nuzzo says, "Whether Barney Frank wants to reveal the results of an AIDS test is his business, and his business alone. It should not become a political matter of public debate, and I condemn any attempt to do so."

While Soto says the voters of the Fourth Congressional District--which stretches from the wealthy suburban community of Newton to the ethnically diverse, working class Fall River--deserve to know whether Frank has contracted the AIDS virus, some fellow Republicans think Soto has gone too far.

The charge that the party is discriminating against Soto because of his background, many Republicans say, is absurd. "It's a figment of his imagination," says Rep. Kevin Poirier, (R-N. Attleboro), a Nuzzo supporter, He's putting both feet in his mouth, and he's the one causing his own problems. It's not remotely involved with his ethnic background."

Poirier says the real reason Republicans have been reluctant to support Soto is that the challenger is "very narrow in his scope."

"He doesn't offer a platform that will be strong enough to beat Barney Frank," Poirier says, adding, "I think he's a desperate candidate."

But other state Republicans who know Soto are more charitable in their assessments of the Congressional hopeful, saying that the controversy surrounding Soto's candidacy is simply the result of his inexperience.

"John is a decent fellow who is very, very intense and his intensity leads him to do things not too well considered, and politically, they are not the wisest thing to do," says State Rep. John C. Bradford (R-Rochester) "Some of this comes from inexperience. He has to find a way to lessen the intensity. He's ready to explode."

But whatever the source of the controversy, Bradford maintains that Soto needs to change his style if he is to have any hope of besting Nuzzo or Frank.

"He's got to take into account people who may be hurt. When he does something like this, it hurts the Republicans' perception of him. If he continues along this vein, his chances will be very poor," Bradford says. "He should loosen up a little bit and put these things into perspective."