ROOSEVELT

For State Rep. Mark Roosevelt '78 (D-Beacon Hill), the campaign for governor didn't just begin this year with the declaration of his candidacy.

In fact, Roosevelt has been running for governor his entire life.

Whether as a Harvard undergraduate or a state legislator, Roosevelt has painstakingly amassed a record that places him squarely in the political center of this year's gubernatorial race.

He has passed five major bills in the State House since his graduation from Harvard Law School. He has run three major campaigns--two while still enrolled as a Harvard undergraduate.

And even in high school the great-grandson of Theodore Roosevelt Class of 1880, had a reputation for political ambition.

"He'd read every biography of Teddy Roosevelt there was," recalls his college roommate and St. Albans' School classmate Andrew S. Lynn '78. "He very early on knew he wanted to be a public servant."

That ambition is what has led the candidate to run for governor--at the politically tender age of 38--on a centrist platform designed to appeal to the same voters who elected Republican Gov. William F. Weld '66 in 1990.

Like his main Democratic opponent, State Sen. Michael J. Barrett '70 (D-Cambridge), Roosevelt cities the economy as the race's most important issue.

A "no new taxes" Democrat, Roosevelt faults Weld for an apathetic approach to Massachusetts job creation, citing the state's 350,000 lost jobs as evidence of ineffective leadership.

"Weld's rhetoric on... economic development has been fine," Roosevelt says "It's his performance that has been lacking."

Roosevelt's plan for the economy includes increasing job training programs, offering tax credits to companies that create new full time jobs and establishing regional economic development offices.

And Roosevelt says his other pet issue, education, is intimately linked with his vision for the state economy.

"All children deserve a chance to make the most of their potential," Roosevelt said when he announced his candidacy in March. "Our greatest attraction to business is our work force. so I will make sure we have the best schools in America."

The chair of the House Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities Roosevelt recently authored the Education Reform Act, Which the legislature passed. It provides $1.3 billion in additional state funding to public schools in addition to setting statewide testing, curriculum and graduation standards.

The education bill is the fifth in a series of legislative accomplishments for Roosevelt. In 1992, he authored the Massachusetts Hunger Act, and his Gay and Les-bian Civil Rights Bill was acclaimed as ground-breaking in anti-discrimination policy in 1989.

But Roosevelt has lately steered away from these issues in order to focus on the hot questions of the campaign .

His tough stance on crime, for instance, is a result not only of public concerns on the issue but also of his competition with Weld, whose advocacy of the death penalty and "three strikes an you're out" approach to criminal sentencing have won statewide support for the incumbent.

Roosevelt's endorsement of the death penalty has drawn fire from opponents Barrett and late comer former State Sen. George Bachrach (D-Watertown), who oppose capital punishment and accuse Roosevelt of buckling under Republic can pressure.

But all three agree in their support of abortion rights and the graduated income tax. And all three base campaign strategies on attacks on Weld.

But a race including Barrett and Roosevelt invites a number of comparisons between the Harvard alumni, from their common privileged backgrounds to their centrist platforms. Some say the similarities between the two relatively unknown candidates may ultimately undermine their attempts to win the Democratic primaries.

Their common position in the middle of the ideological road may in fact leave room for the leftist Bachrach, who currently shows the highest public approval rating, according to a recent Boston Herald poll.

At the Massachusetts Democratic Party's nominating convention last weekend, Roosevelt received the endorsement of party activists for his primary campaign.

On the second ballot, Roosevelt received support from 53.5 percent of the convention delegates.

Both Barrett and Bachrach will appear on the primary ballot, however. Bachrach received the support of 23.6 percent of the convention delegates, and Barrett was endorsed by 22.8 percent of delegates.

Upon winning the convention, Roosevelt pledged to begin fighting against Weld immediately. The boost to his campaign may be enough to allow him to catch Barrett in fundraising.