Certainly, Guerriero's candidacy for Lt. Governor has attracted far more attention than anyone else seeking the spot, past or present. Politicos, pundits, journalists and his millionaire opponent, James Rappaport, have weighed in on everything from Guerriero's age, his alleged lack of experience, the fact that he wasn't Swift's first choice to join her on the ticket--even his dimples were fodder for a recent Boston Herald column by Margery Eagan. The media has also zeroed in on the fact that Guerriero has made history by becoming the very first openly gay candidate--a Republican--chosen by a sitting governor to join her in the race for office. Guerriero is taking the media onslaught in stride. Regardless of why reporters have come knocking, it gives him a chance to tell the story of why he wants to be Lt. Governor. Name recognition is high, he laughs, ``So I'm pleased with it. The good, bad and the ugly, we're pleased with it."

Surprisingly, Guerriero was unprepared for all the talk about his sexual orientation, although in the last few days the groundbreaking significance of his being a gay man running for the state's second highest post has begun to sink in. But it wasn't something he and the governor really discussed, he reveals. ``In my discussions with her about running we barely talked about my sexual orientation. We acknowledged it, we said it's part of my personal story and it's great and it will bring something to the table," Guerriero explains. ``Because it wasn't the focus, even after the announcement I was surprised that we're getting calls from around the country. CNN called yesterday and I did an interview with Wolf Blitzer. And I thought I'd be talking about the ABM--the anti-ballistic treaty or missiles going into Iraq with Wolf Blitzer and he wants to talk about why this is important in the state and how people are reacting to me being an openly gay man running for Lt. Governor. And I said to him yesterday, as I've said to many people, I campaigned all weekend and regardless of where these folks came from or what their age was or what their sexual orientation or skin color or zip code, they wanted to talk to me about, `What is your other position on taxes? How are you going to make the schools better? And how far are the Patriots going to get in the playoffs?' That's all we talked about all weekend. From the oldest guy in the room, the most conservative guy in the room, to the young person right out of college. They wanted to know that stuff about me.

``I do believe when push comes to shove the people of this state are very fair-minded," he adds. ``And as long as you're someone who's principled and has credentials and who is honest about yourself and where you stand that they'll respect you. And many of them may not agree with me on a wide range of issues--including gay marriage--but looking at them eye to eye and face to face and saying I want to be your Lt. Governor because I think it's important and that I have something to bring to the table, I think a lot of them will give me some consideration. At least I hope so."

When Guerriero, who is single, talks of his position on gay marriage, he means his support for it. It's apparently the one issue on which he and Swift, who has drawn criticism for her stance against gay marriage, part ways. ``Patrick and I have agreed to disagree on this issue," said Swift when she announced Guerriero's candidacy. ``We share a philosophy on taxes, on education and I think it was not my goal or one of my main criteria in selecting a running mate to find a carbon copy of myself, but rather to find someone who is compatible with my political philosophy and Patrick exceeds that criteria."

Given that same-sex marriage is being debated in various forms in the state Legislature, the courts and will possibly be decided on at the ballot box in 2004, will Gurriero have a voice on the issue as Lt. Governor? ``You better believe it," is his quick reply. He and the governor agreed on several things before Guerriero decided to throw his hat in the ring. ``One of them was that I would not change any of my positions on issues. Period. And two, to the extent that we have disagreements she's going to hear about my side of the story. Continually. In the end, she's the governor, I'm going to defer to her position. But on this issue in particular," he adds, ``I looked at this governor's record on civil rights over her ten years in public life. I'm sure every reporter is scouring over every vote to review it. She's someone who supports hate crimes legislation, she's someone who supports Safe Schools initiatives, which has been a controversial topic. She's someone who supports domestic partnership that's being blocked in the Democratic House of Representatives, she's someone who supports health care benefits for gays and lesbians. And when you take that full picture you have a governor who is as good on gay and lesbian civil rights as anyone in Massachusetts politics. And quite frankly almost as good as anybody in the nation in any governorship. Were it not for that I could never run on this ticket. Those who like me or don't like me will all agree that I'm very opinionated. I feel strongly about things and I would never accept a ticket to the dance with somebody who I didn't have fundamental respect for and who didn't respect me."

Guerriero is prepared for critics who question why a gay man would join a ticket with someone who's opposed to gay marriage--Eileen McNamara already raised the issue in a recent Boston Globe column. He points out that many gays supported President Clinton, who signed the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, a bill Swift opposes. And Democratic U.S. Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, he notes, also oppose gay marriage. To anyone who wants to hold Republicans to a special standard, Guerriero says, ``Come on, let's join together and figure out that civil rights is not a partisan issue. And that Jane swift's record on civil rights matches most of the people that they put bumper stickers on their cars for."

But clearly, there is support for Guerriero's decision to run with Swift from different political factions of the gay community. To make gay marriage a litmus test for gay civil rights in a statewide political race, said Massachusetts Log Cabin Republicans President Chris Ferguson, is unfair. ``Then the question we have to ask ourselves is," said Ferguson, ``are gay Democrats going to stop voting for Ted Kennedy because he doesn't support gay marriage?" The bottom line is, according to Ferguson, ``having an openly gay man near the top of the ticket, it's breaking new ground. It creates hope not only for gay people, but for people who are marginalized anywhere."

Gary Daffin, a staunch Democrat and co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, agrees. ``To be honest I think that issue is wildly overplayed," he said, referring to Swift's oft-publicized stance against gay marriage. ``We have to be careful not to box ourselves in." Members of both parties still need a lot of convincing on the subject. ``We've got a lot of work to do with all of the Democrats as well. I think if Cheryl [Jacques] had run for Lt. Governor she would have had the same issue with some of the Democratic candidates." The openly gay Democratic state Senator had announced her candidacy for Lt. Governor last year, but has since dropped out of the race.

The son of an Italian immigrant father and an Albanian-American mother, Guerriero got a taste for politics early--at age 8 he was glued to the television watching the Democratic presidential convention. Political organizing as a student at Catholic University in Washington fueled his desire for a career in public service and by the age of 25 he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served three terms beginning in 1993. At the age of 29 he became the youngest person ever elected to the mayor's post in Melrose. Guerriero left during his second term last May to join the governor's senior staff. His age, coupled with Swift's mere 36 years, has also been subject to criticism--Democratic naysayers have derided the pair as the ``kiddie patrol" and ``MTV takes over state government." Guerriero dismisses those who choose to focus on his birthday rather than his political accomplishments. ``I'm going to tell my story, which is winning five elections, as you know, three terms in the state Legislature, two terms as chief executive of a city, as a chief aide to the governor for the last six months," he says. ``That's a pretty full resume of public experience and connections with what keeps the economic engine going in Massachusetts and I compare that record with anyone else who's running."

Though he's not well known as a ``gay politician" per se, Guerriero emphasizes that his policies have always been consistent with his personal life. As a legislator he worked with AIDS Action Committee to pass the Standby Guardianship law, which allows seriously ill parents to arrange care for their children in the event of the parent's death or incapacity. He also worked on Mayor Menino's executive order to extend domestic partner benefits to city employees. As mayor, Guerriero fought for the right of Melrose High School students to start a Gay/Straight Alliance. Though he made a conscious decision not to come out during his first run for office he's never really hidden his sexual orientation, he says. ``To just make some great pronouncement about my personal life I thought that would not be the way...that I wanted to be labeled. It just wasn't what I was about," says Guerriero, who realized he was gay soon after graduating from college. ``I wanted to be a hard working person who stood up for civil rights, who stood up for low taxes and stood up for schools. And ten years later, I'm guy who is for lower taxes, for strong schools and stands up for civil rights."

With good-natured reluctance, Guerriero gives due to local politicians who made his decision to join Swift's ticket as an openly gay man a little easier. ``I might have my political differences with some of these folks, but I look at folks like Susan Tracy, Cheryl Jacques, Jarrett Barrios and Liz Malia and they were trailblazers, regardless of politics," he laughs, ``and making it clear that you can be gay or lesbian and run for office and stand for the people that you represent. I take my hat off to them, even though they're of a different political stripe because each one of us has a role to play, it might be a gay or lesbian teacher in an elementary school who helps change the faculty's sense of working with a gay colleague. Or it's a politician who in a very public way comes out just by the nature of the business or a newspaper reporter or electrician or someone who works in the Boston stock exchange. There is no blueprint on how to do it right. I'm sure there's a hefty debate going on in the gay community about whether I did it well or should have done it differently or should have been more public at a different point. The bottom line is I am completely at peace with who I am. And I'm proud to be someone who's Italian-American, gay, second generation Albanian-American, former mayor, former state Rep., son of an amazing family that loves me unconditionally and somebody who was selected by a governor who I respect. That's my big total picture and all of them are parts of me that I'm truly part of. And they all give me a certain vision and perspective on why public service is important. And if I'm Lt. Governor each one of those things will inform me as to how to be more sensitive to what families in the commonwealth are thinking about--all families in the commonwealth."