Boston Split Over Acting Gov, AG

BOSTON--At 7 a.m. yesterday morning Shay Allen was already outside the polls at the Marcus Garvey Garden School, waiving her Harshbarger/Tolman sign and handing out little yellow lists of Democratic candifates.

As dusk settled over the heart of Roxbury at 5:30 p.m., Allen was still waiving her sign and politicking with the last wave of voters.

"I'm getting a sense that a lot of people are voting in these elections," she said. "We've had about 400 people come in so far, and that's really high," she said.

"A lot of people have made negative comments about Cellucci and his strong endorsement of the death penalty."

"Harshbarger seems like a fighter, he was a good attorney general," she went on, warming to her political spiel, "and I'd rather have him if there was a crisis in Massachusetts."

Others were less enthused about the voting process. "The choices aren't very good," complained Anne Rhodes, an elderly woman bearing an umbrella and a bag of groceries. "It's politics as usual, and all the people have their own self-interests at heart."

"I've been voting in this district for some 30 years, and I've watched all those people get into office and make only minute changes," she continued. "There aren't many people who want to come out and vote in these elections, especially with the whole Clinton ordeal."

When asked how she was voting, Rhodes stopped walking and said, "Harshbarger of course; Cellucci wants to kill people. And did you hear the size of that debt? That's a whole lot of money, are we going to give that man our taxes?"

The anti-Cellucci sentiment was apparently universal in this community, at least among those talking. "I think Cellucci is arrogant. He's one of the have-nots, one of those politicians that you don't see until the elections when they come down and shake hands as if you're his best friend," said Stacy Burlew, toting an oversize purse and two small children. "I called down to get his statement on childcare," she went on, "but he didn't even have one. Harshbarger was able to send me a 20-page report,"

"I just voted the party," said Michael Jessups, an elderly man with a veteran's cap, joining the numerous voters walking home in the coldness who said the same thing. When asked why, he continued walking, and just called back, "I don't like Cellucci very much, I just don't like him."

On the other side of the Southeast Expressway, at South Boston's Condon School, the voters seemed less polarized--both in their opinions and their party affiliations.

"I'm voting for Cellucci because I'd like to see the economic trend continue," John G. Moran. "I'm against the death penalty, but it's not as big an issue as the rest of the agenda, like keeping taxes down."

"I don't think a lot of people are just voting any particular party ticket," Susan Davenport offered, as she left with a large group of voters. "This is a Democratic area, but people watched the debates and saw who could handle themselves under pressure, and Cellucci seemed much smoother. I don't think anybody paid much attention to the ads, both candidates were pretty much running a smear campaign, and they cancelled each other out."

Others were more affected by the massive television blitz that both candidates put out. "I'm concerned about Cellucci's $700,00 credit card debt," Marian Burchell said. "Even with college and housing costs, does it really cost that much to live?"

Polling figures in South Boston had the total at 1,200 voters with an hour-and-a-half left, an especially high total that nearly doubled the primary vote, according to polling officials.

Closer to home, in Central Square, the verdict on the elections was also mixed. "I think a lot of Dems are turning out for Cellucci," Christine Logan said. "He comes across a lot more working class than Harshbarger, plus the economy's strong and he's Democrat."

"Something about Harshbarger just gets under my skin," agrees Sarah Hogan, another Central Square voter. "I voted Democratic everything else, but I didn't like his demeanor in the debates, and I like to go with my gut."

"This is a Democratic area, but I think Cellucci's going to get a lot of the vote. He stepped in at the right moment in the economy, and people are happy with him right now," she said.

Even Harvard students got into the voting spirit. At the Quincy House polls, 91 out of a registered 749 voted. "That's a record high in the last couple of years that I've been here," says J. Simpson, one of the pollsters working the site. "We've had it as low as 22, although it's usually between 50 and 70."