Frank Bellotti

PICKING a Democratic candidate for governor this year is much like choosing between entrees in Harvard's dining halls. Neither fish pizziola nor cheesy garden cassarole tempts the palate, but it has to be one or the other.

Today, the election offerings are longtime state politician Francis X. Bellotti and Boston University President John R. Silber. Our reluctant choice is Bellotti--simply because we cannot stomach the thought of the dictatorial Silber ruling Massachusetts as he dominated B.U.

To be fair, Silber has been an able adminstrator at B.U. Under his leadership, the University's academic prestige has increased dramatically. But the dictatorial methods he used to achieve these ends underscore the simple fact that he is unfit to be the governor of this or any other state. Such tactics are hardly acceptable in a private academic institution; they have no place in a democratic government.

As president of the school since 1974, Silber has alienated faculty, staff and students alike in what amounted to a massive seizure of power. With the help of an unprecedented tuition hike, Silber quadrupled the size of university administration and funded secret-police-like surveillance of student protests and faculty activities. Under his leadership, B.U. was cited in court for gender discrimination in employment and for violating students' First Amendment rights.

At B.U. and on the campaign trail, Silber has mad a name for himself as the King of Soundbites--cultivating a blunt, outspoken style that has slighted Blacks, Jews, gays, feminists, the elderly and immigrants, among others. This insensitivity to a large portion of the electorate is in itself reason to oppose Silber's candidacy.

The most compelling strike against Silber is that despite his carefully cultivated renegade image, he represents all the inside dealing that has made politics a despised profession in this state. Silber has taken money from dozens of corporate PACs and influential politicians; the Boston Globe noted that his campaign disclosure list reads like a Who's Who of Massachusetts politics.

BY COMPARISON to Silber, Frank Bellotti is just another politician. Throughout his relatively undistinguished career as lieutenant governor and, later, attorney general, Bellotti has chosen his positions with one hand measuring the winds of public opinion and the other covering his behind. In one of the most monumental flip-flops of Massachusetts politics, Bellotti--who brought a landmark parental consent case to the Supreme Court that would have severely restricted access to abortions--now says he supports the right to choose. And in a double flip-flop, Bellotti started his political career in 1964 as a supporter of the death penalty, then briefly opposed it, and now supports it again. We have grave reservations about endorsing a candidate who supports the state's right to kill its citizens. But given the anti-death penalty Silber's personal qualities, we have little choice.

In Bellotti's favor, his pollsters have guided him into a few good positions. In speeches across the state, Bellotti stresses the importance of economic competitiveness and health care reform--although his proposals seem a bit short on specifics. Bellotti's record as attorney general is fairly solid on women's rights (excluding abortion), the environment and consumer issues, although questions remain about how well he policed his own office.

But the best reason to vote for Frank Bellotti has nothing to do with his much-ballyhooed experience or "personal leadership." It is that "Bellotti" isn't spelled "S-I-L-B-E-R."

In voting, as in dining halls, sometimes you just have to pinch your nose and swallow hard.