Candidate Ed Davis Doesn’t Mind Giving Credit to Rival

When it comes to helping constituents, Republican Ed Davis doesn’t mind telling you what kind of U.S. senator he wants to be--one like the man whose job he hopes to win, Democrat Alan Cranston.

On a jet bound from Sacramento to Los Angeles recently, a pair of flight attendants with long faces sought out candidate Davis, who is a state legislator and former Los Angeles police chief. It seems a tax-sheltered investment had landed the stewardesses in thousands of dollars worth of trouble with the IRS, and they wanted somebody with clout in Washington, D.C.

“I’d call Sen. Cranston,” said Davis without hesitation. “He is known to be very good at getting results for people.”

And then, perhaps mindful that he was sitting next to a newspaper reporter, Davis added vaguely that, well, Cranston may have “slipped” a little in the helping-hand department. And there always is the option of calling Republican California Sen. Pete Wilson “who has the advantage that he is of the same party as the President,” Davis allowed.

Davis, however, quickly returned to praising his potential opponent, a three-term Democratic veteran of the Senate, for knowing how to respond to the individual problems of constituents back home. “You have to give him credit,” said Davis.