THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2002 — What a difference seven months makes. Last summer, Representative Martin Meehan of Lowell was fighting for his political life. Today, with the 240-189 passage of Meehan’s campaign-finance bill, Meehan is on top of the political world.

Let’s take a moment to remember what happened. Angered by Meehan’s strong support for campaign-finance reform on the national and local levels, House Speaker Tom Finneran released a redistricting plan that eviscerated Meehan’s district. (It is almost unprecedented to destroy a sitting congressman’s district when a state is not losing a seat.) That forced Meehan, who had been mulling a run for governor, to decide right then what his future would be. Knowing the difficulty he would have raising $4 million in state money and sensing the chaos that enshrouded the state Clean Elections measure, Meehan decided to stay in Congress. It’s also true that Meehan seemed to some fellow Massachusetts politicians distracted by his national-campaign-finance crusade. But enough public pressure bubbled up from within the state to save his job.

Even so, Meehan was not yet out of the woods. He was one of only a handful of politicians to incur damage in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks: in an interview with the Boston Herald, he questioned President George Bush’s decision not to return to the White House upon hearing of the attacks. As a result of these hasty words, local and national public opinion swelled against Meehan. But that was before two things happened.

First, Meehan has taken a lead role on behalf of the families scarred by September 11. One of the overlooked aspects of that tragedy has been the extent that Massachusetts residents, particularly in and around Meehan’s Lowell district, have been hurt. Meehan has become a tenacious advocate for those families, such as the Oganowskis of Dracut, who have been most hurt. He also sponsored a fundraising concert featuring, among others, Don Henley, to help those children left without a parent by the terrorist attacks.

Second, Meehan’s pet cause received a boost from the latest corporate scandal — and one of the largest in US history. While the country’s attention was fastened on the War on Terrorism, the bankrollers of Bush’s campaign for president, Enron Corp., went bankrupt. And though Bush’s handlers say they didn’t get anything in return for all the money they forked over, the entire sordid episode shone a bright light on the sordid underside of money and politics. The momentum for campaign-finance reform began to build.

Now, following the passage of Meehan’s bill in the House, the nation stands closer to the first major reform of election financing since the Watergate era. While eliminating soft money won’t solve all the problems of election financing — and may create new ones — it’s worth a try. Meehan is, in large part, the author of this achievement. Where he goes from here is unclear, but with such a major achievement under his belt, the future looks bright.