It's six Republicans--a doctor, a talk-show host, a radio advertising sales manager and three millionaires--versus one Democrat, a 32-year incumbent senator with the most famous last name in Massachusetts.

Some call this year's U.S. senatorial campaign a case of anti-incumbent fever. Some call it "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." And some simply call it crazy.

But these six political outsiders are betting that 1994 will be the year that voters finally end the tenure of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56.

Kennedy is more vulnerable this year than he has ever been, according to the Republican candidates who hope to challenge the Democratic senator. They say that in his most recent term, Kennedy voted against measures to curb government spending and sponsored legislation that has hurt small businesses--a particularly important sector of the Massachusetts economy.

But before they face Kennedy in November, the six Republicans have to square off against each other in the September primary.

And to be successful in their bid for the Republican nomination, the candidates will have to go beyond their common disdain for Kennedy and distinguish one GOP platform from the next.

That might seem a difficult proposition at first glance. When it comes to the campaign's most important issue--the economy--all six share similar views and espouse equally conservative fiscal policies.

But their positions on issues such as abortion,health care and foreign policy vary widely,pushing the outer limits of the conservativepolitical spectrum.

And as Republicans in a staunchly Democraticstate, all the candidates believe that it may betheir political amateurism and unconventionalcampaigning which will vault them to unexpectedvictory.

JANET JEGHELIAN

Janet Jeghelian, one of the two leadingcandidates in the polls, is no stranger topolitical debate. For 10 years, she co-hosted the"Ted and Janet" show, Boston's top-rated radiotalk show.

Jeghelian, who considers herself a "moderateconservative" in the mold of Gov. William F. Weld'66, debated current events with her liberalco-host, Ted O'Brien.

"We had to be creative and imaginative, readyfor every crisis," Jeghelian says. "There are 10talk-show hosts running for Congress in 1994: ifwe're going to do the talk, we might as well dothe walk."

Jeghelian is the only Republican candidate inthis race who has held any public office, servingduring the 1970s as the first "Female Selectman"from Westwood, which is still her home town.

"[Local government] is the purest form ofdemocracy," she says.

A professional physical therapist, Jeghelianhas treated U.S. Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy andArthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher of the New YorkTimes.

Jeghelian says that her gender and prochoicestand improve her chances of winning the Senateseat. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), Gov. AnnRichards (D-Tax.) and gubernatorial candidateKathleen Brown (D-Calif.) have all offeredpolitical pointers to Jeghelian.

"As little as 10 years ago, being a woman was adisadvantage. Now, if anything, it's anadvantage," says Hutchison spokesperson David C.Beckwith.

W. MITT ROMNEY

W. Mitt Romney was only 15 when he worked toelect his father, a business executive, as thegovernor of Michigan.

Now George Romney, at 86, is working to electhis son, also a business executive, to the U.S.Senate.

"It's a family affair," says Mitt Romney, whosewife and five sons have joined his father involunteering for the senatorial campaign.

Watching his mother campaign for Michigan'sU.S. Senate seat as the 1970 Republican nomineeand witnessing his father's 1962-1968 tenure asgovernor of Michigan encouraged him to enter the1994 Senate race, Romney says.

But Romney, a Belmont resident who has lived inMassachusetts for 22 years, never thought he wouldfollow in his parents' footsteps until he saw therecent election of several Republicans to majoroffices, including Weld's 1990 victory.

"When my wife and I moved here, it was aone-party state," Romney says. "[The Republicanwinners] opened the door."

Romney, 47, is the founder and chief executiveofficer of Bain Capital Company, a venture capitalfirm which operates under the control of Bain andCompany, a management consulting firm that Romneyhelped to save from economic failure in 1989.

A graduate of both Harvard Business School andHarvard Law School, Romney is a leader in theMormon Church and opposes abortion rights.

"There is a growing sentiment on the part ofMassachusetts voters for someone who has had areal job," Romney says. "My entire career has beenspent finding jobs and creating employers."

JOHN R. LAKIAN

Former gubernatorial candidate John R. Lakian'scampaign literature portrays him as a Vietnamveteran and a self-made "successful businessman."

"He has donated and raised significant amountsof money for many GOP candidates, includingGovernor Weld," Lakian's biography says.

Lakian is vice chair of Limits II, the groupwhich petitioned successfully to place thequestion of term limits on the 1994 Massachusettsballot. Lakian is also pro-choice on abortionrights.

Originally from Worcester, Lakian moved to NewYork for business reasons. Lakian now lives inWoods Hole, in what was previously his summerhome.

"I want to replace the name Kennedy withLakian, someone who came from the first floor of athree-decker in Worcester," he said last month ata forum at Harvard Law School.

In 1982, Lakian waged an unsuccessful campaignfor Governor against Michael S. Dukakis. A BostonGlobe article that year accused Lakian of lyingabout biographical information in interviews andin his campaign literature.

Among other fabrications reported, The Globesaid Lakian falsely claimed that he had takencourses at Harvard and that his father had died ofinjuries sustained in World War II.

"I think there's that degree of slight fluffput into every candidate's brochure, everycandidate's advertisements," Lakian told TheGlobe in 1982.

A 1985 trial cleared The Boston Globe of libelcharges, as a Suffolk County jury ruled that theinformation in the article was essentiallyfactually correct.

Lakian was not available for comment, accordingto Mimi Healy, his campaign scheduler.

MILDRED F. JEFFERSON

Dr. Mildred F. Jefferson has a lot of firsts onher resume: first person from Panola County,Texas, to graduate from Harvard Medical School,first Black woman to graduate from Harvard MedicalSchool, and first woman to be elected to theBoston Surgical Society.

In November she would like to add one more:first person to defeat Sen. Kennedy in 32 years.

Jefferson is a general surgeon at the BostonUniversity Medical Center and Assistant ClinicalProfessor of Surgery at Boston University Schoolof Medicine.

She is a founding member of the state andnational Right to Life movement and is currentlythe president of Right to Life Crusade, Inc. Sheserved three terms as president of the nationalRight to Life Committee.

The surgeon has had considerable experiencewith Republican campaigns at the state level.Jefferson worked in the 1984 Reagan-Bushre-election effort and both the 1988 and 1992Bush-Quayle election campaigns. She was the Bushdelegate from the state's eighth congressionaldistrict to the 1992 GOP convention in Houston.

A Boston resident, Jefferson labels herself a"Lincoln Republican," which means she subscribesto a political philosophy based on"humanitarianism, individualism and enlightenedcapitalism."

One of the main differences between her andKennedy is that "he's a socialist by politicalinclination, while I am a believer in thefree-enterprise system," Jefferson says.

GARY W. TODD

Like his Republican rivals, Gary W. Todd lacksthe name recognition that comes from holdingpolitical office.

But unlike the others, Todd also lacks the namerecognition that comes from success in ahigh-profile profession.

A 46-year-old regional advertising salesmanager for a group of New England radio stations,Todd has spent little time in the public eye.

"I'm not a millionaire, a professionalpolitician, a noted scholar or a celebrity. I'mjust an ordinary man," Todd says. "But it's afunny thing about ordinary men and women that theysometimes do extraordinary things."

The Fitchburg resident and father of two, whorecently celebrated the birth of his firstgrandchild, says his "ordinary" status will be anasset, not a liability, in his campaign for theSenate.

"It's dangerous to democracy to think that onlythose with special skills, special education and alot of money can address [the nation's] problems,"Todd says.

Todd, the chair of his local church board,calls himself the most right-wing of theRepublican senatorial candidates. Breaking awayfrom Weld's brand of Republicanism. Todd opposesboth the death penalty and abortion rights forreligious reasons.

"I am the only true fiscal and socialconservative in this race," Todd says. "I do notallow pollsters to dictate my philosophy."

J. DARWIN CARTER

In the 1980 presidential race, Sen. Kennedytried to beat incumbent James Carter from Georgiain a race for the Democratic nomination.

Fourteen years later, the roles have reversed,and it is another Georgian, also named JamesCarter, who is chasing senatorial incumbentKennedy.

James Darwin Carter, a former Assistant to theDeputy Secretary of the U.S. Department ofAgriculture in the Reagan Administration and now aprivate trade consultant, says he has a specificgoal for the Republican nomination in Septemberand the subsequent race against Kennedy.

"I will espouse practical, populist solutionsfor the myriad of problems which face theCommonwealth of Massachusetts," Carter says.

The Framingham resident, who lost a 1980 bidfor a Congressional seat in Georgia, has alreadyraised $1.2 million through a direct-mailfundraising campaign which has attacked manyaspects of Kennedy's personal life.

One of Carter's fundraising letters last yearaccused Kennedy of having "killed Mary Jo Kopechneat Chappaquiddick" and of "skirtchasing andbooze-guzzling," according to reports by theState's News Service.

At the time, state Republican officials accusedCarter of running a negative campaign and of"siphoning off funds" from legitimate candidates,according to reports.

But to this day, Carter vehemently denies theaccusations, saying that Kennedy's private life isfair game and that it "impacts his ability tofunction in Washington."

"If elected, I will never have to apologize formy conduct," Carter adds.

Prior to his stint at the Department ofAgriculture, the 54-year-old Carter operated afamily owned agri-business and worked in thepersonnel department at Sears-Roebuck, Inc.

Similar Economic Views

Political reporters and Republican voters haveemphasized that the candidates' similar positionson economic issues will bring politicalpersonalities to the forefront in the Septemberprimary.

All of the candidates are committed to a policyof fiscal conservatism--reducing governmentspending and the federal debt.

"Quit taxing people and make the governmentstop spending so much," Carter says. "There aretwo ways to balance the budget: decrease spendingand get the economy growing."

Jeghelian says her primary objective as aSenator would be to eliminate unnecessarygovernment spending.

"Unless we do something about our debt, youngpeople are going to be paying for the sins of ourpast," she says.

Romney, who supports balancing the budget,criticizes Kennedy's vote against the BalancedBudget Amendment as an example of outdatedCongressional thinking.

"Kennedy represent out-of-control spending,"Romney says. "He refuses to be bound to spend onlywhat we earn."

The candidates also unanimously criticizeKennedy for supporting the creation of unnecessarygovernment agencies that hamper the development ofsmall businesses.

"There's got to be a mandate for the federalgovernment to lift regulations," Jeghelian says."Mandated benefits are too numerous, payrolldeductions are extravagant."

Different Social Concerns

The candidates say their consensus on economicissues is expected and will become an importantfactor in the race against Kennedy. But the socialissues which divide them will play the determiningrole in the primary.

Although all the candidates disagree withClinton's health care plan, they each offerconsiderably different alternatives.

Jefferson, a physician, says health care is oneof the most important issues of the campaign, butshe opposes the Clinton reforms, calling them"draconian" and unnecessary.

"There's no health care crisis," she says."There is an image that people are dying in thestreets because they can not get into hospitals,but that's not true."

Jefferson says she opposes any system ofuniversal coverage. Instead, she supportspreserving patients' ability to choose healthcare.

"Since I am the only medical doctor in therace, I have an obligation on behalf of themedical system to preserve the finest health caresystem in the world," Jefferson says.

Jeghelian says she advocates programs targetedto the three percent of Americans who simplycannot get health insurance, rather than mandateduniversal coverage.

Romney, in contrast, supports health careinsurance reform and universal coverage. But hevoices a refrain echoed by the other Republicancandidates: government must limit its involvementin the new health care system.

"Government can't run itself efficiently,"Romney says. "How is it going to run health careefficiently?"

"Government has a definite, but limited andtargeted [role] in providing insurance to peoplewhose uninsured period lasts more than two orthree years," Carter says.

While the candidates advocates advocate limitedgovernment health care regulation, they supportstrong government intervention and tougherpenalties for serious crimes.

Crime, say the candidates, will be the new hottopic of debate in this year's election.

Romney, who emphasizes the need for "a tougherapproach to criminal justice," says the typicalmurderer spends only five and a half years inprison, and the average time for a rapist is onlythree and a half years.

Jeghelian agrees that strong penal codes canreform criminals. "Transgressing the laws ofsociety brings about penalty," she says. "Withearly intervention, we can alter behavior."

But Jefferson says a lack of moralaccountability has increased criminal tendenciesamong Americans, and measures like gun controloffer only superficial answers to this problem.

And Jefferson considers a ban on assaultweapons misguided because criminals can "get themfrom anywhere."

U.S. as Peacekeeper?

The candidates criticize the ClintonAdministration's inconsistency with regard toforeign policy, but vary on the extent to whichthe U.S. should play the role of an internationalpeacekeeper.

Jefferson invokes the ideas of PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, Class of 1880, when she saysthe U.S. should serve the role of the world'spolice force.

"The U.S. has to accept the fact that we arethe last superpower in the world," she says. "TheU.N. is a paper kitty cat, not a paper tiger, sowe need to provide force to back it up."

In Bosnia, Romney says the U.S. should "exertall its diplomatic effort to lift the embargo sothat the Muslims can defend themselves."

But he opposes U.S. military involvement in theembattled region. The responsibility to takemilitary action lies with America's Europeanallies, he says.

And although Lakian and Todd advocate sendingsoldiers to the region, they say U.S. soldiersshould serve under their own nation's commanders.

"The tragedy of Somalia could have been avertedthat way," Lakian says.

Off to the Races

Although Boston Globe polls have reportedRomney as the front-runner among the sixcandidates for the Republican nomination,Jeghelian has fared best in head to head pollsagainst Sen. Kennedy.

But Jefferson says because she is the onlycandidate whose views are truly different fromKennedy's, she will win the election if she isnominated.

"I am the only one that can beat Kennedy," shesays. "We need candidates who can show they aredifferent from how he is and some of my Republicanchallengers show they are like him."

Romney, who has raised the most money of allsix candidates thus far, says he wants to avoidfocusing his campaign on his Republicancompetition. "Any of us make a big mistake indenigrating each other," he says.

Instead, Romney says he wants to focus hiscampaign on Kennedy--and his outdated ideas thathave come as a result of his lengthy tenure asSenator.

"We were driving Volkswagen Beetles andwatching 'Leave It to Beaver' when he first wentto office," Romney says. "He's out of touch withhow our economy and society work today."

Jeghelian, Todd and Carter are more focused onthe primary and on spreading the popularity ofRepublicans in the traditionally Democratic state."Republican groups believe it's time for TedKennedy to go," Jeghelian says. "I have thehighest name recognition."

All the Republican candidates have a strongchance because party distinctions have diminished,Todd says. "They [voters] are no longer going tovote just the party lines."

In what they term as the state's changingpolitical climate, the candidates' collectiveconcern remains one: to dethrone the 32-yearincumbent and perennial favorite.

"I would like to see some party unity thisyear," Carter says. "If I lose, then I hope we goforward with a good nominee to defeat Kennedy."Crimson File PhotoJOHN R. LAKIAN during his unsuccessful 1982campaign.