GOP Candidate Found: Campaign Still Needed

The Massachusetts Republicans have chosen a candidate for Governor and they're hoping that he'll bring some attention to the state's Grand Old Party.

In a state where the Democratic congressional candidates had trouble squeezing behind two tables at campaign forums, the Republicans are having difficulty developing recognition, credibility, and a campaign chest for their gubernatorial contender.

Democratic incumbent Michael S. Dukakis, who was unopposed in his primary election, is favored so strongly that opposition to him has been seen in many political circles as an act of supreme self-sacrifice or consummate stupidity. And it hasn't been easy to find a willing and runnable Republican candidate.

One candidate, Gregory S. Hyatt, has fallen to twin charges of inappropriate personal behavior and forged signatures on campaign forms. Another, State Rep. Royall Switzler (R-Wellesley), was felled by a phony war record.

Remaining is George Kariotis, a businessman and political activist belonging to the growing conservative wing of the Massachusetts Republican Party.

This candidate still has trouble being recognized as the Republican choice. He lost his last-minute sticker campaign in the primary to Hyatt, who remained on the ballot, then withdrew after the results were announced.

Kariotis has said he plans to run a campaign that takes advantage of free media.

The Massachusetts Republicans have found little in Dukakis' record with which to haunt him. They have attempted to tie the governor to the Westfield State College harrassment case, where the college's President Francis W. Pilecki was charged with sexual harassment of several male students.

However, Dukakis' various opponents have failed to convince the public that the governor was responsible for the behavior of a state college president.

Republican political consultant Jack Flannery commented that "there's very little sign of life in the campaign yet." He said Kariotis faces not only an uphill fight against a popular Democratic incumbent, but against indifference from the media, which he said "has decided that the action is in the [Joyce] Hampers[Robert]Crane race" for State Treasurer.

The basic equipment for attracting attention will be "proposals, position papers, and what-not," Flannery said, but he added that Kariotis cannot attract attention, let alone votes, without ingenuity. The consultant pointed to Ray Shamie's 1982 Senatorial when he offered a reward to anyone who could persuade Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to debate his Republican opponent.