Farrakhan Case--Will Jewish Voters Abandon Bradley in ‘86?

Mayor Tom Bradley’s handling last month of an appearance by black Muslim Louis Farrakhan probably set back Bradley’s effort to recast his image as he prepares to run for governor in 1986, according to some Democratic strategists.

It remains to be seen, however, how badly Bradley hurt himself with Jews, a group that has always been crucial to his political success.

Before the incident over Farrakhan’s Sept. 14 speech in Inglewood, the usually low-key Bradley had begun to present a more active and decisive image as he moved toward a rematch with Republican Gov. George Deukmejian next year. Bradley’s actions ranged from rafting down the Kern River to telling city pension fund officers to begin divestiture from South Africa or risk dismissal.

California Democratic activists and Jewish leaders interviewed recently agreed, however, that Bradley’s image-remaking probably suffered during the Farrakhan incident.

“It slowed the train, and it could also haunt Democrats in general,” one state Democratic strategist, who requested anonymity, said. “It could say to the public that once again you have a Democratic leader who is not capable of governing independently, who is being buffeted by special-interest groups.”

Farrakhan has made anti-Semitic statements over the last two years and some Los Angeles Jewish leaders asked Bradley to renounce the minister before he spoke last month. But Bradley had already decided to hold his fire until after Farrakhan spoke, at the request of black community leaders who were hoping to quietly persuade the black Muslim to temper his remarks. Farrakhan went on to make anti-Semitic remarks in his speech at the Forum in Inglewood, and the next day Bradley held a press conference to criticize him.

Bradley strategists say it is too soon to tell whether their candidate will be hurt by his refusal to speak out earlier. The election, after all, is more than a year away. And fund raising has barely begun.

Jews, however, have long been a major source of Bradley campaign money. Jules Glazer, Bradley’s campaign business manager, said “it (the Farrakhan incident) hasn’t affected fund raising so far. The checks are still coming in. Call me in December after we have our first big dinner and I can tell you if there is a drop-off in the percentage of contributions from Jews.”

Play in Southland

Pro-Bradley forces also note that media coverage of the Farrakhan incident was far heavier in the southern part of the state than it was in the north.

“The Farrakhan thing was never a big issue in Northern California,” said Duane Garrett, a San Francisco attorney who is a top fund-raiser for Bradley and other state and national Democrats. “Some people would have preferred, as I would, an immediate denunciation of Farrakhan, but Tom Bradley more than purged himself with his statements after Farrakhan’s speech. I just don’t expect it to be a factor in fund-raising for Tom if he runs for governor.”

Bradley’s handling of the Farrakhan matter, however, infuriated some Jewish leaders, who say the hurt still has not gone away.

“The (gubernatorial) election is a long way off and I don’t know what the other issues will be,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. “But in terms of support, it would be naive to believe that Bradley today is where he was before the Farrakhan incident.

Seen as ‘Disastrous’

“Anyone who says that does not have his pulse on the Jewish community. . . . You must understand that I do not enjoy saying this. . . . Tom Bradley has been a great friend of the Jewish community, but his decision (not to renounce Farrakhan before he spoke) was disastrous in my opinion.”

Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who is Jewish and who also represents Jewish constituents on the Westside, believes Bradley erred, but is not sure about the long-term impact.

“People are torn,” Yaroslavsky said. “The disappointment you hear is about a man (Bradley) with a record of public service that has been very good on issues important to the Jewish community. But on a fundamental question, he chose to lie low.”

Bradley’s mistake was even more serious than that, in the opinion of Earl Raab, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Inadequate Denunciation

Raab charged that when Bradley did criticize Farrakhan for being a bigot, his denunciation was inadequate because Bradley tried to find something good in the portions of Farrakhan’s speech that dealt with economic independence for blacks.

“A number of demagogues have created movements by saying things that people are willing to accept and attached to that evil things,” Raab said. “It is necessary to denounce the messenger and not just the partial message of anti-Semitism. If he (Bradley) does not do that, I think he loses some credibility with Jews and with the community as a whole.”

Gary Rosenberg, publisher of the San Diego edition of Israel Today, said in an interview that while “Bradley has hurt himself in our community,” the mayor was not entirely at fault. In an editorial for his newspaper, Rosenberg criticized the Los Angeles Jewish leaders who pressured Bradley because they fostered “a perception that the Jewish community votes, thinks and acts based on a relatively few issues.” He said these leaders created the impression that the only approach to handling Farrakhan was their approach.

“The message was clear: Our community was unwilling to consider any other approach, any other issues, any other points of view,” Rosenberg wrote.

As for whether Bradley hurt himself permanently with Jewish contributors and voters, John Rothmann, founding president of the Raoul Wallenberg Democratic Club of San Francisco, said: “Bradley dropped the ball. I’m not saying he won’t have us in 1986, but he needs to have us enthusiastically.”

A number of those interviewed agreed with the assessment of Los Angeles attorney Hal Kwalwasser, who is active in the Jewish community and in the Democratic Party.

“My sense is that if the mayor runs for governor and things are not going well in the campaign, some Jews may use the Farrakhan thing as an excuse not to support him,” Kwalwasser said. “But if he looks strong and the campaign is going well, I’ll bet you won’t hear much about Louis Farrakhan.”