rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (11/02/84)
RAY "THE SHAM" SHAMIE Yesterday Reagan himself came to Boston to boost the dubious senatorial campaign of multimillionaire Ray Shamie, owner of the Metal Bellows Corp. in Sharon. The outdoor City Hall Plaza rally at noon was "by invitation only", & cordoned off by a fence. So much for Reagan, the "people's choice". Shamie suffered a crushing defeat against Ted Kennedy in 1982 as a rela- tive unknown. The problem is, his actual political allegiances are STILL relatively unknown. This year Shamie's embraced Reaganism; some who remember the '82 campaign see this as opportunism, an attempt by a remar- kably colorless candidate devoid of ideas to grab presidential coattails. But the truth is different & far worse: Shamie is in fact a prominent figure on the "lunatic fringe", in radical rightwing circles, in Massa- chusetts, and has embraced Reagan, who's considerably to the LEFT of Shamie, to gain political RESPECTABILITY. (In his '82 campaign, Shamie often griped that Reagan was "a captive of the moderates & liberals". Gordon Nelson, a "member of Shamie's kitchen cabinet", ran the 1980 campaign of whacko Phil Crane (R-Ill.), "Reagan's challenger from the right" [1]. Given the totality of Shamie's political views & associ- ations, Shamie still probably disdains Reagan's "liberalism' [sic.], but knows the only chance for someone of his political ilk to attain office in this state is to attach himself to the Prez.) Shamie & his campaign staff have claimed that he briefly flirted with the John Birch Society in the mid-70s (a meeting & speech or two), but that for years now he's been a mainstream Republican. This is a simple & complete lie. On October 10th, the BOSTON GLOBE published an internal Shamie campaign memo that detailed efforts by Shamie's staff to remove, obscure or deny evidence of his far right beliefs & connections, including removing some of the pro- fusion of extremist literature Shamie stocks in his company's li- brary & regularly distributes to employees. CONTINUED 1. "The Real Ray Shamie" by Michael Segal & Renee Loth, BOSTON PHOENIX, 10/16/84. Cheers, Ron Rizzo The views herein expressed are my own & do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.