Capuano takes jab at Reilly for stance on gay marriage

WASHINGTON -- US Representative Michael E. Capuano, a potential contender in next year's Democratic primary for Massachusetts governor, yesterday appeared to inch closer to jumping in the ring with a broadside at Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly for his reluctance to talk about the politically sensitive issue of same-sex marriage.

''I'm not happy that the current front-runner doesn't know whether he's for or against . . . gay marriage," said Capuano, Democrat of Somerville. Capuano also accused Reilly of waffling on capital punishment.

Capuano, who supports same-sex marriage, continued to leave the door open to his own bid for the governor's office, which has not been occupied by a Democrat since Michael S. Dukakis left in 1991. ''It's not in my plan, but I think it's important to beat Mitt Romney, and I am not convinced the current crop can do it," he said.

Separately, the state Republican Party released an attack on Reilly accusing him of running away from the same-sex marriage issue ''like the plague."

Kendra Medville, a spokeswoman for Reilly, responded with a statement saying that ''Tom's been clear on these issues, and he's been clear in his focus on beating Mitt Romney next fall."

Last weekend, state Democrats adopted a plank in the party platform endorsing same-sex marriage, a position embraced by one gubernatorial candidate, former US assistant attorney general Deval Patrick, and another likely contender, Secretary of State William F. Galvin. But Reilly, who did not mention the issue in his speech to more the 2,500 delegates, declined to take a position on the platform change in a later interview.

Yesterday, Reilly's spokeswoman continued to avoid discussion of the issue. ''Every day we don't focus our attention on Mitt Romney's failures and our ideas for the future is a good day for Mitt Romney," said Medville. ''We should be appealing to working parents trying to figure out which bill to pay late this month, to young couples watching their friends leave the state for better jobs and cheaper housing, and to the people worried about losing their healthcare -- or who don't have any at all."

Last year, the attorney general said he supported legalizing civil unions rather than granting same-sex marriage. More recently, he has said he would oppose taking away the right to same-sex marriage because it has been in place for a year.

Capuano's comments came during a wide-ranging interview with the Globe's Washington bureau in which he was coy about his own political ambitions for the governor's office, but critical of his party's crop of likely contenders -- Reilly, Galvin, and Patrick, a 48-year-old former member of the Clinton administration making his first run for elective office. Only Patrick has officially announced his candidacy.

''Deval Patrick, I think, is still new," Capuano said. ''I don't know whether he can do this or not; too early to tell. Billy Galvin -- is he running? I don't know."

Of Reilly, Capuano said, ''I think it's important you have an opinion. That's why Democrats lose across the board. That was one of the problems with John Kerry when he ran. I think that's one of the attractions of George Bush. He appears to stand for certain things, and he does stand for certain things. I give him credit for that."

Capuano, who for the past six years has represented one of the state's most liberal congressional districts, stretching through Cambridge and several Boston neighborhoods, said he has been comfortable supporting same-sex marriage.

''It's been easy for me since day one," he said. ''I've been married for almost 32 years now, and the state has had nothing to do with my marriage. It'll only have something to do with my marriage if I get, and whenever I get, divorced. Then it will tell me what my rights are and what my wife's rights are." Under state law, he added, marriage is a ''contract" with the religious and moral dimensions left to individuals.

When same-sex marriage came to Massachusetts a year ago through a state high court ruling, voters in 14 states reacted by amending their constitutions to ban such unions.

A recent Globe poll indicated that, nationally, half of all Americans oppose same-sex marriage coming to their states, and some political analysts say the Democratic Party's national prospects have been hurt by the embrace of same-sex unions in Massachusetts.

Capuano said: ''I know from my work down here in Washington, it would make my life a lot easier to look people in the eye and say it wasn't five justices on the Supreme Court who by the way were appointed by Republicans, but it was the people of Massachusetts" who elected to bring same-sex marriage to the state. Capuano predicted the state's voters would approve such unions.