That was quite a Thanksgiving tweak the Democrats in the state Legislature gave their
counterparts on Capitol Hill, a special little slap at two seasoned camera hogs and
big-bucks raisers, U.S. Reps. Joe Kennedy and Marty Meehan.
A new law was whisked through on a voice
vote in an informal session of the Legislature the day before Thanksgiving, with virtually
no one in either chamber. It makes it illegal for a member of Congress to switch money
from his federal account to a state campaign committee. And it was immediately signed into
law by Gov. Paul Cellucci, before he flew off on a mission to Israel.
The act and the suddenness with which it
was passed were surprises to Joe K and Meehan, both of whom are known to have an eye on
the Golden Dome's Corner Office as one of the "options" for campaign 2002.
"I've raised a million dollars in
my federal account and Joe has $1.3 million," Meehan said yesterday. He said he and
Kennedy are close friends and it's "highly unlikely we would be in the same
race." Translated, that means Joe K would have first dibs on trying to put a Democrat
back in the governorship. But if he passes on it again, well -- there's Marty.
The new no-transfer rule -- part of an
overall campaign finance law triggered by passage of a ballot question on Nov. 3 -- may be
more inconvenience than stumbling block. A candidate from Capitol Hill could simply send
money from his federal account back to donors and ask them to re-contribute to his new
state account.
But that's cumbersome. And who can say
whether the stock market -- or the candidate's political stock -- might have dropped
enough by then so they wouldn't get the same amount back?
So there's no mystery why Republican
Gov. Cellucci was in such a rush to get this deed done. It makes life a little tougher for
two guys who could cloud his future.
But why would a Democrat-controlled
Legislature help a Republican governor and rankle fellow Dems?
House Speaker Tom Finneran (D-Mattapan)
said: "This is a leveling of the standards. A Tom Birmingham (the state Senate
president) couldn't use money from his state account" if he had run for the
congressional seat Kennedy will leave next month, Finneran said.
"He'd have had to start from
scratch," while Meehan or any other congressman could have simply transferred money
from his congressional campaign to a state account. "When that was explained to me, I
scratched my head and said, 'That's not even close to fair,'" said Finneran.
Birmingham said, "It was an
indefensible loophole."
But this being Massachusetts, some pols
speculated this little twist must be payback to the congressmen who endorsed the
public-funding campaign finance ballot question that a lot of legislators privately
opposed. Others speculated Finneran or Birmingham might want to run for governor himself
someday.
But Finneran may enjoy running the state
as speaker more than he would as governor. And he'd have a hard time getting elected.
There are a lot of Scott Harshbarger Democrats who'll long remember Finneran's hobnobbing
with Cellucci and musing that Harshbarger might kowtow to the "looney left."
Besides, do you think King Tom would get a single vote our of Foxboro?
As for Birmingham, he'd probably prefer
his next career move to be to the Supreme Judicial Court.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, where
Meehan is among those trying to tote Bill Clinton's water against GOP impeachment brigade,
the congressman sought to shrug off Beacon Hill's snub.
"I have no quarrel with its
substance. But it's unfair to pass a major piece of legislation without open and fair
debate with all members having a chance to vote," Meehan said.
The congressman is a long way from
making any firm decision about his future. If long-shot lightning should strike in 2000
and we elect a President Kerry, Meehan might even take a hard look at running for John
Kerry's Senate seat.
Meehan also is wondering whether to
release himself from his self-imposed term limits pledge not to seek re-election in 2000.
He said citizens, columnists and
newspapers urged him to. He might heed them, he said, to avoid "becoming a lame
duck" and thus less effective in advancing his causes.
For now, he'll take the Legislature's
little tweak in stride. But I'd bet if he should ever become governor, he won't forget it.