Clinton, looking both stunned and amused, did not have time to respond, as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy took center stage to introduce him. With the same stunned and amused look, Clinton thanked Kennedy for his introduction and said: I was a junior in high school when Ted Kennedy became a senator. And when I leave the White House, he'll still be there.

Tolman, despite his intention to run, has been unable to arrange a debate with Gov. Paul Cellucci on the tax-cut referendum. Cellucci has debated a number of possible Democratic candidates already and is scheduled to tangle with Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham on Monday night.

But Tolman, who ran as Scott Harshbarger's running mate in 1998, doesn't have a debate scheduled even though he's been trying.

Maybe the governor is just afraid to debate the dynamic Tolman.

Al Gore has a huge lead, so the gap won't be decisive in the Bay State. But the vice president only leads George W. Bush by 14 points among males, while Gore holds a huge 35-point lead among women.

One-third of male voters in Massachusetts have a negative view of Gore, while just 19 percent of women give the vice president an unfavorable rating, according to the poll.

Overall, Bush has a 45 percent unfavorable rating in Massachusetts, and he's viewed negatively by men and women.

But that's nothing compared to Patrick Buchanan, the all-but-forgotten Reform Party candidate. The staunch conservative is viewed unfavorably by a whopping 56 percent of all voters in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, Carla Howell, running as the Libertarian Party candidate against Kennedy, is still largely unknown even though she's been running TV ads.

More than 45 percent of voters said they've never heard of her, while 27 percent had no opinion of her.

The problem is that she hasn't made much of an impression on voters who do know her, with 16 percent giving her an unfavorable rating while just 11 percent viewing her positively.

More than 55 percent of male voters are opposed to the referendum question banning greyhound racing in the state, while just 37 percent of women are against it. More than 41 percent of women support the ban.

Hearing room C at City Hall is going to be renamed the George Keverian Hearing Room, after the rotund former House Speaker, known locally as D-Papa Gino's.

The official dedication is Nov. 16 and will be followed by, the local paper reports, light refreshments.

Light refreshments? Somehow doesn't seem right.

According to their latest financial filings with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the Question 8 hirelings have run up tabs at, among other places:

Henrietta's Table at the posh Charles Hotel in Cambridge, $79.41.

Aesop's Table, Wellfleet (where so many voters flock this time of year) $189.69.

Chevy's Fresh Mex in Saugus, $61.15.

The Tap, Haverhill, $34.35.

And what tops off a big feed better than some delicious imported Swiss chocolates? That's why they stopped by Lindt's Chocolate Shop and ran up a quick $28.50 tab for candy for ad participants.

Not to fear, though. The three gazillionaires funding the pro-drug initiative are still spending money like they're in some kind of a purple haze. Running totals:

George Soros, $537,500.

Peter Lewis, $562,500.

John Sperling, $292,500.

Note to Whalen, though: David I. Walsh, the confirmed bachelor senator ousted by Henry Cabot Lodge in 1946, was from Clinton, not Canton.

Texas Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Phil Gramm mocked Massachusetts during a dust-up on the Senate floor this week with Sen. Kennedy over Bush's record.

Gramm gushed about how the Bay State was losing residents - and two congressional seats - as the population in Texas booms.

No comment just yet from the Bay State governor, who is trying to land a job in a Bush White House.