This choice, he says, was largely inspired by his ability to help working people and support a movement in which he believed.

After 18 years in labor law, Birmingham says he still believes passionately in the movement's ideals, but says he is also aware of its problems.

"I know them warts and all," Birmingham says. In his tenure on Beacon Hill he has occasionally run into conflicts with the state teachers' union.

A New President

Birmingham's legendary predecessor William M. Bulger (D-South Boston) was a state legislator for 18 years before he took over the ornate wood-paneled office that comes with the president's gavel.

Birmingham moved into the office after only six years in the State Senate.

Although he won the chair after a clash with fellow Democrats, many of Birmingham's colleagues say that his rapid ascendance is a tribute to his new approach to doing business in the State House.

State Senator Mark C. Montigny (D-New Bedford) says that Birmingham has changed the way things are done in the Senate.

"He opened [the Senate] to the ways and wishes of the electorate," Montigny says.

Unlike many who have run the Senate over the past 300 years, Birmingham does not necessarily need to craft every piece of legislation that comes out of committee.

"I respect the committee structure and it is not personally necessary for me to have my thumb-print on every page of every bill that gets passed," Birmingham says.

Birmingham has crafted this new power structure by delegating considerable authority to the committee chairs which he appointed upon taking office.

According to Montigny, Birmingham identifies promising legislation produced by his committee chairs and shepherds it through the Senate.

"I look at the Senate as a bunch of political entrepreneurs and Birmingham as the curious venture capitalist," Montigny explains.

But two weeks ago during the Senate's annual deliberations over the budget, which was largely agreed upon before reaching the floor, there were many indications that Birmingham still maintains a strict control over legislation passing through the Senate.