By Terry M. Neal and John E. Yang
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, September 13, 1997; Page A06

For one hot minute, Democratic National Committee Chairman Steven Grossman flirted with the idea of seeking his party's Massachusetts gubernatorial nomination. It was a short romance.

"After careful consideration, I have decided not to run in 1998 for governor of Massachusetts," he said in a written statement. He added that the best way to serve his party would be to "support the values and priorities of the president and vice president and work to elect Democrats at all levels of government."

Just last week – a few days after Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-Mass.) announced he would not run for governor – Grossman let aides leak that he was considering a run.

Grossman said he consulted with several political strategists back home but decided to honor his promise to President Clinton and Vice President Gore to serve out his four-year commitment as chairman.

"I have enormously deep and broad grass-roots ties with the [state] party," he said. "On that level I have an absolute sense that it would have been a very productive and gratifying year. Having said that, honoring the promise I had made became the determining factor."