Romney rides volatile issue onto US stage

Later, in a Wall Street Journal opinion article, he offered advice to other governors combating gay marriage.

National prominence is not new to Romney, who challenged Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy (D) in 1994 and in 2002 was largely credited with stabilizing the Salt Lake City Olympic Games, which had been rocked by ethics violations.

Analysts believe he is using the gay-marriage debate to build on his national profile. Some suggest he is being groomed as a possible replacement for vice president Dick Cheney on Bush's 2004 presidential ticket.

The move would fit a pattern established when Richard Nixon tapped Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts to help take John Kennedy, and Michael Dukakis's pick of Lloyd Bentsen to campaign against fellow Texan George H.W. Bush.

"It's a way of finding someone who is able to take on Kerry, and step on your opponent in their own backyard," says Michael Goldman, a Democratic political consultant.

Others observe that Romney could have an eye on John Kerry's Senate seat or run for the presidency down the road.

Either way, the gay marriage issue helps him accomplish two crucial tasks: win some national attention, and gain the favor of conservative politicians and activists who increasingly determine the composition of the party's national ticket.

"He's making inroads with the conservative base that is so integral to the success of a Republican candidate on the national scale," says Craig Rimmerman, a political scientist at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y.

It's an awkward alliance for a governor from a heavily Democratic state. But it might be a necessary risk if Romney is eyeing national office.

Liberal Republicans from Massachusetts have had difficulty advancing in their own party. The most resonant example: Senate Republicans' refusal to OK the appointment of Governor Weld ambassador to Mexico.

"The Weld example for local Republicans is that you can't get a national job if you fraternize with the enemy," says Mr. DiNatale.

A special burden is carried by Republicans from the Northeast, where GOP senators from Maine and Rhode Island represent some of President Bush's strongest opponents, and where Vermont Sen. James Jeffords dropped his GOP affiliation altogether.

"Romney's trying to show that he's a different kind of Northeast Republican," says Mr. Goldman.

But Romney's behavior does not strike all experts as unexpected for Massachusetts.

Capitulation to same-sex unions, they say, would require a far more liberal stance than passive support of abortion rights. The litmus test for being a liberal on social issues in America has been ratcheted up.

"I think that gay marriage moved the social agenda to a point beyond where most Republicans can endorse it," says Dennis Hale, a political scientist at Boston College.

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