Brown Leans to Feinstein in Governor Race

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown of California asserted Tuesday that San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein has a better chance than Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley of defeating Gov. George Deukmejian next year.

In remarks that seemed to contain the sparks to rekindle a fire he started two years ago with Bradley, the Democratic leader said his fellow Assembly Democrats perceived Bradley at the top of the ticket as “potentially a liability.”

Bradley, 67, narrowly lost to Deukmejian in 1982 and is widely regarded as a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for governor next year. Whether Bradley will run a second time for governor was a major issue in the mayoral campaign that ended April 9 with his election to an unprecedented fourth full term as mayor.

“The mayor clearly has not decided one way or the other about whether he will ever run for governor again,” Deputy Mayor Tom Houston said. “I think the mayor will make it (a decision) on his own and not on what anybody else recommends to him as to how they see his chances.

“I don’t know where the Speaker has been,” Houston said. “The mayor won an astounding victory with 68% of the vote throughout Los Angeles. . . . A Mervin Field poll shows him to be the most popular elected official in California.”

Brown discussed the California political scene with reporters at two separate meetings during a trip to Washington, where he and other state lawmakers lobbied on behalf of California projects and renewed political friendships.

“She has the best chance of defeating Deukmejian,” Brown said of Feinstein, citing as attributes “the way she carries herself, the kind of public presentation she makes (and) she does not represent any threat.”

Brown two years ago during a similar trip to Washington angered Bradley supporters by asserting that the Los Angeles mayor would be too old in 1986 to make a successful run for governor.

The Assembly Speaker repeatedly insisted that “I am not a part of any effort to get Bradley in or out (of the race)” and claimed he was not attempting to send any message to Bradley.

“I’ve said Dianne should get in only if Tom Bradley is not running.”

But he said that if Bradley sought his advice on running for governor again, “I would tell Tom Bradley I think one of the finest elected jobs in California is the mayorship of Los Angeles.”

Brown said he believes Feinstein would not run against Deukmejian, who holds high marks for popularity in opinion polls. But he said she could be “packaged” for television like “Ivory Snow compared with Joy.”

Brown, whose relations with Bradley long have been chilly, said he would support Bradley if the mayor told him that he was a candidate.

However, he told reporters that Assembly Democrats “view Tom Bradley’s chances at the governorship as less than they were in 1982. If they are less than they were in 1982, that means that for their purposes he is potentially a liability.”

“Once you’ve lost, you’ve got to convince people that you can (win),” he said. “You are in a hole and you’ve got to overcome that handicap. With my members, Tom is in a hole.”

As he has been doing in recent months, the third-term Assembly Speaker denied that he has any aspirations to become mayor of San Francisco.

Brown also discussed the prospects for reelection of U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and the reconfirmation of California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird in 1986.

Cranston will receive the party’s nomination easily, but would face “real trouble” if Republicans nominated Peter Ueberroth as his opponent, Brown said.

Cranston’s abortive run for the presidency last year cost him politically with Californians, he said, because he no “longer is looked up to as the pure, unadulterated nonpartisan, able senior senator from California.”

Ueberroth, currently commissioner of baseball, received rave reviews for his handling of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles last year and has been talked about as a potential GOP candidate for the Senate.

“It would be tough duty to beat the Olympics,” Brown said.

As for Bird, who has been targeted by Deukmejian and the GOP, Brown said Assembly Democrats likewise perceived her as a potential liability.

“My membership says if Bradley is on the ticket, along with Bird and Cranston, we could have some problems,” he said, adding that he is not yet ready to agree that such an assessment is accurate.

Earlier in the day, he was asked whether Cranston, Bradley and Bird could win, he replied with a laugh, “Sure, it’s do-able--but, oh, lord.”