The Senate Race In Review

Less than a month ago, six Republicans--a doctor, a talk-show host, a radio advertising sales manager and three millionaires--were set to challenge one Democrat, a 32-year incumbent with the most famous last name in Massachusetts, for the U.S. Senate.

But last month, at the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Mass., party activists gave a ringing endorsement to millionaire W. Mitt Romney. And now only Romney and fellow businessperson John R. Lakian remain in the race for the right to face Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 in November.

No matter who wins the primary, the Republicans candidate will be an entrepreneur who portrays himself as a self-made success story.

But David Denehy, Lakian's press secretary insists Lakian is the only truly self-made Republican in the race.

"Two of the candidates come from similar privileged background," Denehy says. "Lakian was able to build him-self and come with a different perspective."

Romney, 47, is the founder and chief executive of Bain Capital Company, a venture capital firm which operates under the control of Bain and Company, a management consulting firm that Romney helped to save from economic failure 1989.

Romney comes from a family with strong political roots: his father George was governor of Michigan in the 1960s, his mother ran for the a Michigan U.S. Senate seat in 1970, and his sister-in-law is now running for the U.S. Senate there as well.

A graduate of both Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, Romney is a leader in the Mormon Church.

Lakian, a former gubernatorial candidate, portrays himself in his campaign literature as a Vietnam veteran who transformed himself into a "successful businessman."

According to his biography, Lakian "has donated and raised significant amounts of money for many GOP candidates, including Governor Weld."

Originally from Worcester, Mass., Lakian moved to New York years ago for business reasons. He now lives in Woods Hole, Mass., in what was previously his summer home.

In 1982, Lakian waged an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign against Michael S. Dukakis. A Boston Globe article that year accused Lakian of giving false biographical information in interviews and in his campaign literature.

Among other fabrications reported, The Globe said Lakian falsely claimed that he had taken courses at Harvard and that his father had died of injuries sustained in World War II.

"I think there's that degree of slight fluff put into every candidate's brochure, every candidate's advertisements," Lakian told The Globe in 1982.

Lakian filed a libel suit against The Globe. A 1985 trial cleared the newspaper of the charges, as a Suffolk County jury ruled that the information in the article was factually correct.

Denehy, Lakian's press secretary, says the candidate grew from the experience.

"Whoever's fault it may have been, John [Lakian] takes full responsibility," Denehy says. "You make mistakes--those who become better people for it are the ones who survive and prosper."

Both millionaires plan to draw heavily on their own resources in the campaign. They'll need to; Kennedy has reportedly amassed a campaign war chest of more then $2.8 million.

Both Lakian and Romney say they are committed to a policy of fiscal conservatism--reducing government spending and the federal debt.

"Kennedy represents out-of-control spending," Romney says. "He refuses to be bound to spend only what we earn."

Lakian says now is the time to enact a balanced budget amendment.

"If Congress evaded it, we won't be any worse off than we are now," Lakian says. "If it works, it will force Congress to deal with hard questions it should have dealt with long ago."

On one of the year's hottest issues, both candidates insist they will be tough on crime.

Romney, who emphasizes the need for "a tougher approach to criminal justice," supports gun control but says gun control alone will not curtail criminal activity.

And Lakian says the "three strikes and you're out" proposal advocated by President Clinton does not go far enough. Instead, Lakian supports life sentences for criminals after just two convictions for certain violent offenses.

The two Republicans differ on health care another key issue. Romney says he supports reforming health care to provide universal coverage but would like to achieve this without a large government bureaucracy.

Lakian, on the other hand, says only limited changes to current health insurance programs are necessary.

"The simple fact," Lakian says, "is that we can provide portability of benefits form job to job and coverage for preexisting conditions at a fraction of the cost and with virtually none of the bureaucracy proposed by Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton."

In the foreign policy arena, Romney opposes sending American troops abroad on peacekeeping missions, while Lakian advocates this, so long as American soldiers serve under American commanders.

"The tragedy of Somalia could have been averted that way" Lakian says.

Romney does not consider himself "pro-choice" but says he supports Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision which guaranteed a woman's right to an abortion. Lakian has said he supports abortion rights.

Despite the candidates' differences, Romney's press secretary Ann Murphy says the differences between Lakian and Romney should not be the focus of the campaign. Instead, she says, the Republican Party should come together and present a strong alternative to Kennedy.

"The Republicans will serve themselves best if they go after Ted Kennedy," Murphy says. "It's a long race but a short race."

Perhaps the biggest surprise at the party convention last month was the Republicans' rejection of candidate Janet Jeghelian.

A former radio talk show host, Jeghelian had strong name recognition entering the convention but apparently failed to impress the delegates with her self-described "moderate conservative" views.