Malone Underdog In State Race

BOSTON--Ever since he became State Treasurer, Joseph D. Malone '78 says his mother has been a little worried.

"I remember my mother calling me and saying, 'Joe, of my seven children, you were the one who always got along with people. Now, I pick up the newspaper everyday and I read about a new battle that you're engaging in,'" Malone says.

The 42 year-old Republican, now beginning a run for the governor's office, was elected in 1990, becoming the first in his party to hold the treasurer's office in 41 years.

Malone stormed into the State House determined to clear the arteries of a slow and costly state government--even if it meant making a few enemies.

After six years of managing the state's finances, Malone has done both.

Axing state employees left and right, Malone has straightened out the lottery, vastly expanded pension plans for state workers and regained respectability for the state's once-dismal bond rating.

But Malone has made enemies as well.

With his crusade to eliminate what he calls state government "the old-fashioned way," Malone rocked a boat that many Bay State pols--Republican and Democrat alike--were quite happy to be sitting in.

According to State Senator Mike Knapik (R-Westfield) Malone may face political consequences for his war against the status-quo.

"I think that is something the treasurer is going to have to deal with," Knapik says. "Those types of things cause bruises."

While burnt bridges may be his most significant obstacle, Malone faces a number of challenges as he prepares to challenge Lt. Gov. A. Paul Cellucci in the 1998 Republican gubernatorial primary.

Cellucci benefits from both his job's status and his campaign's funding.

When current Gov. William F. Weld '66 becomes the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico later this summer, Cellucci, who has been building up a war chest of campaign donations for six years, will take his place.

Much like fellow Harvard football player and underdog gubernatorial candidate, Democratic Attorney General L. Scott Harshbarger '64, Malone's solution is quite simple.

"My approach is to go out there and much like a job interview, let the people of Massachusetts know what I've been doing as treasurer," Malone says.

Local Boy Made Good

The son of two Italian immigrants and the youngest of seven children, Malone was raised in Waltham, Mass., a blue collar suburb of Boston.

After graduating from Waltham High as class president, Malone went on to do a year of post-graduate study at Phillips Andover Academy, where he was recruited by former Harvard Football Coach Joseph Restic.

At Harvard, Malone's peers--like Michael J. Lynch '76, a sports broadcaster for Boston's Channel 5 News who played football with Malone--say he had a magnetic personality.

But to many, Malone's uncanny display of foresight was his most impressive attribute.

"He always used to make comments like, 'I ought to be careful with what I do because I might want to run for mayor of Waltham sometime,'" Lynch says.

After leaving Harvard, Malone went on to work for a series of Republican politicians including Raymond Shamie, a conservative millionaire from Walpole, Mass.

Malone began working for Shamie in 1982 when the millionaire unsuccessfully tried to unseat U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.). In 1984, Malone was made campaign manager of Shamie's again unsuccessful campaign against U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).

Shamie says that as campaign manager, Malone displayed an exceptional ability to communicate with people.

"He's easy to talk to, easy to do business with and he has the knack of putting people at ease," Shamie says.

The former chair of the State Republican Committee adds that Malone was not simply a sweet-talking salesperson.

"He had very fine selling attributes and it was because he believed in what we were doing," Shamie says.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan asked Shamie to run against Kennedy for a second time, but the aging millionaire had simply had enough.

For Malone, it was a perfect opportunity.

Although Malone was youthful at age 33, he seized the moment and ran in his first statewide election.

As was widely anticipated by local papers who labeled his campaign a "suicide mission," Malone was soundly defeated, pulling in only 34 percent of the vote.

But the exercise proved to be successful in other ways.

Not only did Malone receive accolades for refusing to attack the very vulnerable Kennedy, but he established the roots of a statewide network which many believe allowed him to win the treasurer's race two years later.

His opponent in that 1990 election was current Secretary of State, William Galvin.

Claiming that Malone was mounting a "campaign of personality," Galvin attempted to capitalize on the newcomer's lack of leadership experience.

But as the only veteran candidate of a statewide election, Malone and his growing network won the race, claiming 57 percent of the vote.

Streamlined Government

Although many of his changes have been oriented around conservative fiscal reform, Malone maintains that his political philosophy is fairly balanced.

"I consider my philosophy very eclectic. On the one hand, I am obsessed with efficiency and effectiveness in government. On the other hand, I am constantly looking to solve problems," he says.

One of the treasurer's most extensive projects has been restructuring the pension program for state employees.

Malone's former Pennypacker Hall proctor, Director of the Harvard Alumni Association John P. Reardon Jr. '60 says that soon after his election, the treasurer asked him to serve on a committee to oversee the redevelopment of the pension program.

Reardon says that Malone's process was highly effective, shifting the pension plan's focus from savings accounts and universal life insurance plans to more lucrative mutual funds and resulting in a doubling of assets.

Malone is using a similar management style to restructure the state lottery.

According to Executive Director of the Lottery Samuel M. Dephillippo, Malone has "brought [the lottery] into the 21st century."

Dephillippo says that with a series of changes which include automating the $2-billion instant game system, instituting multi-state games, cutting staff by 60 to 65 percent and purchasing a state-of-the-art computer system, Malone's administration has turned the lottery into a business.

But Malone is beginning to take heat for his work on the lottery, as well.

Newspaper reports have revealed that some lottery publicity efforts could violate a state law limiting the lottery's advertising budget.

In addition, some have accused Malone of loading the state's lottery with cronies, while at the same time downsizing layers of management.

Dephillippo, a former Vice President at Fileen's Basement clothing chain, says that both charges are off-base and adds that whatever Malone's hiring practices are, they have worked. In business, he says, that's all that matters.

"If [the lottery's success] has anything to do with Joe's hiring people that he knows or people from his college class, then he should have hired the whole damn class," Dephillippo says.

While Malone may champion cost-cutting reforms that bare resemblance to those forwarded by some of the nation's conservative Republicans, he is careful to distance himself from them.

Instead, the former defensive lineman likens himself to more progressive Republicans such as Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla), former Vice-Presidential Candidate Jack Kemp and New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman.

Malone says that the 1992 Republican Convention in Houston was a case where he was alienated by his party's conservative fringes.

"I felt so uncomfortable," Malone says. "That was not the Republican party that I want to be a part of."

His Own Niche

While Malone has an image of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism, it is an image that he shares with the Weld-Cellucci administration.

Although Malone is careful not to discredit the tremendously popular executive-duo, he is making an effort to create a gap between himself and the Lt. Governor.

"If Bill Weld were to announce today that he was going to run for a third term, I would sign up to support him immediately.... Now it's a case of where do we go from here and who's the best person to lead the state," Malone says.

But keeping with the policy he began during his first campaign against Kennedy, Malone, discussing only his own strengths, will not speak of Cellucci's weaknesses.

But many of Malone's friends are more candid about the differences.

Channel Five's Lynch says that the treasurer's aggressive attacks in the name of cleaning up government separate him from the rest of the pack.

"He didn't follow the normal path that people do when they get to Beacon Hill," Lynch says. "They aren't independent thinkers like Joe is."

And Shamie, still protective of his protege, argues that Malone's ability to cleanup state government without regard for consequences separates him from his colleagues.

"A lesser politician would let things slip under the carpet," he says.Photo courtesy of Harvard Athlietic OfficeJOSEPH D. MALONE '78 has been a fighter since his Harvard football days.

At Harvard, Malone's peers--like Michael J. Lynch '76, a sports broadcaster for Boston's Channel 5 News who played football with Malone--say he had a magnetic personality.

But to many, Malone's uncanny display of foresight was his most impressive attribute.

"He always used to make comments like, 'I ought to be careful with what I do because I might want to run for mayor of Waltham sometime,'" Lynch says.

After leaving Harvard, Malone went on to work for a series of Republican politicians including Raymond Shamie, a conservative millionaire from Walpole, Mass.

Malone began working for Shamie in 1982 when the millionaire unsuccessfully tried to unseat U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.). In 1984, Malone was made campaign manager of Shamie's again unsuccessful campaign against U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).

Shamie says that as campaign manager, Malone displayed an exceptional ability to communicate with people.

"He's easy to talk to, easy to do business with and he has the knack of putting people at ease," Shamie says.

The former chair of the State Republican Committee adds that Malone was not simply a sweet-talking salesperson.

"He had very fine selling attributes and it was because he believed in what we were doing," Shamie says.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan asked Shamie to run against Kennedy for a second time, but the aging millionaire had simply had enough.

For Malone, it was a perfect opportunity.

Although Malone was youthful at age 33, he seized the moment and ran in his first statewide election.

As was widely anticipated by local papers who labeled his campaign a "suicide mission," Malone was soundly defeated, pulling in only 34 percent of the vote.

But the exercise proved to be successful in other ways.

Not only did Malone receive accolades for refusing to attack the very vulnerable Kennedy, but he established the roots of a statewide network which many believe allowed him to win the treasurer's race two years later.

His opponent in that 1990 election was current Secretary of State, William Galvin.

Claiming that Malone was mounting a "campaign of personality," Galvin attempted to capitalize on the newcomer's lack of leadership experience.

But as the only veteran candidate of a statewide election, Malone and his growing network won the race, claiming 57 percent of the vote.

Streamlined Government

Although many of his changes have been oriented around conservative fiscal reform, Malone maintains that his political philosophy is fairly balanced.

"I consider my philosophy very eclectic. On the one hand, I am obsessed with efficiency and effectiveness in government. On the other hand, I am constantly looking to solve problems," he says.

One of the treasurer's most extensive projects has been restructuring the pension program for state employees.

Malone's former Pennypacker Hall proctor, Director of the Harvard Alumni Association John P. Reardon Jr. '60 says that soon after his election, the treasurer asked him to serve on a committee to oversee the redevelopment of the pension program.

Reardon says that Malone's process was highly effective, shifting the pension plan's focus from savings accounts and universal life insurance plans to more lucrative mutual funds and resulting in a doubling of assets.

Malone is using a similar management style to restructure the state lottery.

According to Executive Director of the Lottery Samuel M. Dephillippo, Malone has "brought [the lottery] into the 21st century."

Dephillippo says that with a series of changes which include automating the $2-billion instant game system, instituting multi-state games, cutting staff by 60 to 65 percent and purchasing a state-of-the-art computer system, Malone's administration has turned the lottery into a business.

But Malone is beginning to take heat for his work on the lottery, as well.

Newspaper reports have revealed that some lottery publicity efforts could violate a state law limiting the lottery's advertising budget.

In addition, some have accused Malone of loading the state's lottery with cronies, while at the same time downsizing layers of management.

Dephillippo, a former Vice President at Fileen's Basement clothing chain, says that both charges are off-base and adds that whatever Malone's hiring practices are, they have worked. In business, he says, that's all that matters.

"If [the lottery's success] has anything to do with Joe's hiring people that he knows or people from his college class, then he should have hired the whole damn class," Dephillippo says.

While Malone may champion cost-cutting reforms that bare resemblance to those forwarded by some of the nation's conservative Republicans, he is careful to distance himself from them.

Instead, the former defensive lineman likens himself to more progressive Republicans such as Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla), former Vice-Presidential Candidate Jack Kemp and New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman.

Malone says that the 1992 Republican Convention in Houston was a case where he was alienated by his party's conservative fringes.

"I felt so uncomfortable," Malone says. "That was not the Republican party that I want to be a part of."

His Own Niche

While Malone has an image of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism, it is an image that he shares with the Weld-Cellucci administration.

Although Malone is careful not to discredit the tremendously popular executive-duo, he is making an effort to create a gap between himself and the Lt. Governor.

"If Bill Weld were to announce today that he was going to run for a third term, I would sign up to support him immediately.... Now it's a case of where do we go from here and who's the best person to lead the state," Malone says.

But keeping with the policy he began during his first campaign against Kennedy, Malone, discussing only his own strengths, will not speak of Cellucci's weaknesses.

But many of Malone's friends are more candid about the differences.

Channel Five's Lynch says that the treasurer's aggressive attacks in the name of cleaning up government separate him from the rest of the pack.

"He didn't follow the normal path that people do when they get to Beacon Hill," Lynch says. "They aren't independent thinkers like Joe is."

And Shamie, still protective of his protege, argues that Malone's ability to cleanup state government without regard for consequences separates him from his colleagues.

"A lesser politician would let things slip under the carpet," he says.Photo courtesy of Harvard Athlietic OfficeJOSEPH D. MALONE '78 has been a fighter since his Harvard football days.