"There's been an increase in white-collar crime, but for the last 16 years there's been a lawyer in the governor's office," he says. "Put someone in from the people."

And Fenton says his dealings with government bureaucracy make him the ideal gubernatorial candidate.

"Walking 300 miles is no credential for government," says Fenton, in a reference to a walk across Massachusetts last summer by gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Michael J. Barrett '70 (D-Cambridge). "Experiencing corruption in government is a credential for governor."

Fenton says the judicial system is particularly corrupt and inefficient.

"Let [the other candidates] walk in my moccasins to know what it's like to go to a clerk of court in Dedham who is an alcoholic," he says. "Let him go to a judge who falls asleep without listening to evidence."

Fenton proposes overhauling the court system.

"If you believe our justice system works well, you and I have a different set of values," he says. "In the [state] justice department, they're all political appointments."

In keeping with his populist ideas, Fenton also proposes ending the Massachusetts sales tax, noting that the tax was instituted by a Republican governor.

"If we can drop tariffs to Mexico and Canada, why can't we drop tariffs to the people of Massachusetts?" Fenton asks. "That hurts business and the selling techniques of salespeople."

Fenton also opposes the graduated income tax, saying it will only hurt the middle class.

The candidate says he would like to return responsibilities for welfare programs to the cities and towns.

"All politics is local," he says.

In order to improve educational opportunities, Fenton says he would like to abolish "no parking" signs.

"If people try to go to Harvard, all the streets are lined with no parking signs," he says. "That is an obstacle to people's getting a good education."

While Fenton opposes homosexuality and abortion on moral grounds, he says people have a right to treat their bodies as they please.