Candidates Clash On Abortion, Spending

Governor Michael S. Dukakis and his would-be successor, Republican George Kariotis, faced off last night in a packed Fanueil Hall, despite the evening's other, more compelling conflict.

In the first fully televised debate of the Massachusetts gubernatorial race, questions on social services, state spending, and the themes of the referendum questions led to increasingly tense sparring between the candidates.

Kariotis, who has tried to boost his dragging position in the polls through an aggressive style, cast his responses to moderator Mary Richardson of Channel 5 as accusations against Dukakis. He called the governor a spendthrift and said he had accomplished little for the state while "polishing his image for higher political office."

Dukakis countered by touting his accomplishments of the past four years, and claiming progress towards reforms that are still needed in education, housing, and prisons.

The barbs that stuck elicited replies that relied more on derision and unfavorable comparison with the administration of former Governor Edward J. King, in which Kariotis served as Secretary of Economic Affairs.

Such attacks included Kariotis' attempt to tie the Governor to the Westfield State College scandal, where President Francis Pilecki is accused of sexual harrassment and making questionable payments to a student. He also attacked the incumbent's interference in the election of former Amherst State Rep. James Collins as State Commissioner of Education.

Dukakis' standard reply to the first charge has been that a Governor does not police the internal workings of a state college. He has answered the second by contending that the selection process that chose Collins was marred by politicking.

However, he chose a trump card to play in last night's reply to the charges. He answered that "Anybody who thinks people like Greg Hyatt and [Wellesley State Rep.] Royall Switzler ought to be in his cabinet is really..." and was drowned out by laughter and applause.

As the third Republican nominee to oppose Dukakis this year, Kariotis had offered cabinet positions to his predecessors. Hyatt left the gubernatorial race after allegations emerged of fraud on his election papers and bizarre personal conduct. Switzler bowed out soon after, when he was found to have falsified his Vietnam War record. Both appeared on the ballot in the primary, while Kariotis waged an unsuccessful write-in campaign, gaining the nomination by default.

Kariotis found himself in traditional Republican territory on the issue of drug abuse and criminal justice. "You're as soft as a grape on the crime issue," he told Dukakis, adding that "I don't want to hear any more of this moralistic baloney" against the death penalty, and that "for a guy who twice vetoed the death sentence for drug pushers, you don't understand how criminals think."

"There's a difference between talk and performance," Dukakis replied, citing his support for presumptive sentencing and the expansion of state prison space. He said the King administration, despite its rhetoric about tough criminal justice policies, had permitted the state's crime rate to "skyrocket."

However, a query based on Referendum Question 1, which would authorize the state to regulate or prohibit abortion, was the only skirmish of the evening that had an indisputable winner. Kariotis said that while he favored a "ban on public funding for abortion," the government should "let people decide how they will conduct themselves."

Dukakis told Kariotis that he understood the question badly, and that the Republican's views actually opposed it. Kariotis said the state should abide by any Supreme Court decision regarding abortion. He termed the turgidly worded question confusing, since it discusses both funding and prohibiting abortion.

Richardson stepped in to clarify the point by asking Kariotis whether, if elected, he would veto a legislative bill barring the state from doing business with insurance companies that give refunds to their clients for abortions.

The Republican asked that the question be repeated, then repeated it to himself, then declared that "I'm having trouble following through that whole string of ifs, ands, and buts....I'll have to sit back and think about that one because it's kind of gone over my head." His final answer was that he opposes funding for abortion, does not believe the state should regulate abortion, and supports Question 1.

Applause, though forbidden by moderator MaryRichardson, rose periodically from both factionsin the audience, but generally favored Dukakis,except for a voluble Kariotis contingent on theright of the auditorium.

This was not entirely a normal Monday eveningfor a candidates' debate. Every pool cameramanwore a Walkman, and League of Women VotersPresident Susan Scherr donned a BoSox cap beforeintroducing the candidates, commenting that "weare delighted to have the Red Sox in the Series,and we know that all the players wish they werewatching us." She also levied dire threats againstthe bearers of miniature television sets.

In the post-debate interviews, Dukakisdescribed his increasingly aggressive postureduring the hour as self-defense. "You can't justsit there and take it." Kariotis, far morepositive to the press than on the podium,commented that he was glad of the publicity forhis views, and that he did not consider himself anegative campaigner.

"It's like there's an EleventhCommandment--'Thou shalt not criticize MichaelDukakis,'" he complained