THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2002 — Give gubernatorial candidate Steve Grossman this: he’s taking his shot. Yesterday, in Somerville, Grossman trotted out former president Bill Clinton to give his campaign a needed boost.

Make no mistake: while what Clinton said fell short of an endorsement, he nonetheless gave Grossman a vital assist. Clinton emphasized his deep gratitude toward the man who served as the chair of the Democratic National Committee during one of the former president’s darkest political moments.

"I feel a deep debt to him," Clinton said, as light rain misted down onto his thicket of white hair. "I’m here because Steve Grossman was with us when we were down."

People forget how grim things looked for Clinton a little more than three years ago. Not only was he besieged by the Monica Lewinsky scandal, but the Democratic Party was in desperate need of money. Financial improprieties in the wake of the 1996 election threatened to put the party out of business. The Democrats needed rectitude and diligence. Enter Grossman.

A former chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, Grossman brought a commitment not only to raise money for the Democrats, but to raise it cleanly (or as cleanly as possible in what is always an ugly process). He devised fun and creative fundraising plans for the party, such as organizing a fundraising weekend around the musical Ragtime, based on the E.L. Doctorow novel. He thought the musical’s themes — of immigration, race, and diversity — would resonate with a Democratic audience. (For a full account of the Clinton-Grossman relationship, click here.) Grossman also got into hot water when his pro-Clinton zeal prompted him to praise the president for his "moral leadership" at the height of the Lewinsky scandal. The would-be governor now regrets the comments — chalking them up to "irrational exuberance."

So what was the effect of Grossman’s work on Clinton’s behalf? Clinton described it yesterday, noting that it was the first time a president’s party had picked up seats in a chief executive’s sixth year since 1822. In an election where everyone thought the Democrats, stung by the scandals surrounding the president, would lose political seats, they actually picked them up. Chuck Schumer defeated Alfonse D’Amato in New York, and Gray Davis won the governorship in California.

I was in Washington on election night that year, and one person I reached on the telephone was an exuberant Grossman. He spoke about what was perhaps his biggest coup, Schumer’s unseating of the incumbent D’Amato. "I think Chuck Schumer is very much part of the Democratic Party that is no longer tax-and-spend, no longer weak on crime," Grossman said. Ironically, he could have been talking about his own candidacy, in which he now opposes the state tax cut that Massachusetts voters passed in 2000. A strong progressive on many social issues, he moves to the center on economic issues — a point that Clinton emphasized.

"He supported the policies we had," Clinton said, mentioning welfare reform, the crime bill, and deficit reduction. He added that Grossman’s company, MassEnvelopePlus, a unionized workplace, "is a metaphor of where America ought to be going in the 21st Century."

It came as a surprise to some that Clinton went out of his way to mention Treasurer Shannon O’Brien during his visit to Grossman’s plant. (He also noticeably failed to mention Senate president Tom Birmingham, who can’t be happy about it.)Ever the pragmatist, the former president was making sure to praise a strong candidate — and another ideological soul mate — during the visit. This action by Clinton — always being Clinton — did not detract from the importance of his trip to Grossman’s headquarters.

Clinton’s foray into Somerville brought a bevy of television and print reporters to Grossman’s doorstep. These are reporters who generally have not been giving the candidate saturation coverage. The story landed on the front page of the Boston Herald and the front of the City Region section of the Boston Globe. Grossman is in the news. Now let’s see what he can do with his newfound exposure.