Bradley Enters Contest for Governor on Populist Note

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley formally announced his second campaign for governor Tuesday, declaring that California does not need a chief executive “who is a caretaker for the rich and privileged.”

Sharply attacking his opponent, Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, Bradley struck a populist, time-for-a-change note in his speeches. He first sounded it while announcing his candidacy to supporters in the lobby of Sacramento’s old Senator Hotel, once the hangout of powerful old-boy lobbyists and now an office building. Then-Atty. Gen. Deukmejian narrowly edged Bradley in the 1982 governor’s race.

Bradley, who has no major opponent in the Democratic primary, continued to attack Deukmejian throughout the day, criticizing the governor for failing to crack down on toxic polluters. “Yes, we can have a governor who owes his allegiance to all of the people and not to a handful of toxic polluters,” he said.

Democrat Bradley flew from Sacramento to the San Francisco Bay Area and then into the Central Valley in a day designed to show off his message and the grass-roots organization he has been building.

That organization faltered in San Francisco when a crowd that appeared to be less than 200 heard him speak at San Francisco City Hall, disappointing some Bay Area supporters. “The problem is, we got the word a little late. We got word (of the rally) on Friday,” said San Francisco Supervisor John Molinari.

And San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein said Bradley’s staff in Los Angeles did not consult her about the planning of the event.

Bradley did not deal with one of the most difficult issues now facing him, his as-yet-unannounced position on California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, who faces a confirmation election in November.

On Monday, Bradley said he would announce his decision within 60 days. He also said that as governor, he would ask prospective judges to pledge that they would impose the death penalty “in the right circumstances.” He declined Tuesday to specify what he meant by the “right circumstances.”

Larry Thomas, Deukmejian’s campaign director, said the failure to comment on Bird “makes a mockery of any discussion of leadership on your (Bradley’s) part. What could be more central to a gubernatorial candidacy than a clear expression of the kind of judges you would be likely to appoint if you occupied the (governor’s) office?”

A Clear Choice

Thomas issued a prepared statement declaring:

“It is evident that Californians in November will have the clearest possible choice between a governor whose leadership has brought stability, opportunity and renewed pride in California, or the ‘new’ Tom Bradley, a negative and shrill candidate who will say or do anything--often at the expense of the truth--to win support.

“If today’s performance by the mayor is an indication of how he intends to campaign, we’re more confident than ever that Californians will conclude they made the right choice in 1982, and they’ll make it again in 1986.”

The opening of Bradley’s two-day announcement tour featured touches of old and new--and a strong sense of the past revisited.

The attack against toxic polluters sounded like those made by environmentalists--young and old--critical of government and special interest influence.

But before making them, Bradley got a lesson in the unchanging old-boy ways of the capital when he walked into the Assembly lounge for a meeting with legislators at 7:45 a.m. and interrupted a card game among lawmakers.

Assemblyman Curtis Tucker (D-Inglewood) hastily put away the cards and money on the table after Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) told him a reporter and a photographer were in the room.

Problems of 1982 Recalled

Some of the problems of Bradley’s 1982 loss to Deukmejian were recalled after meetings with lawmakers--first with Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) and some of his colleagues, and then with Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) and the Assembly Democrats. A few senators also joined in the meeting hosted by Brown.

Bradley gave a speech that Brown said did much to heal differences between Bradley and Democratic lawmakers that hurt his 1982 race against Deukmejian.

“We are part of the operation,” Brown said in an interview. “He has asked for our support. That did not happen in 1982.”

Once again, big labor was represented on the tour by Jerry Cremins, a top AFL-CIO advocate in Sacramento. And once again, Bradley invoked his past--son of a black sharecropper who came to California and found success.

But this time there was a change. Instead of labeling himself a sharecropper’s son, Bradley called himself a farmer’s son, possibly thinking of his image with Central Valley farmers, most of whom supported Deukmejian in 1982.

“Today, I stand before you to proudly announce that this farmer’s son and ex-cop is a candidate for governor,” he said. Bradley would be the first black ever elected governor of a state. During Reconstruction, the black lieutenant governor of Louisiana, Pinkney Benton Stewart Pinchback, served as acting governor of his state from Dec. 11, 1872, to Jan. 14, 1873, while the governor successfully fought impeachment.

Started Career as Policeman

The 68-year-old Bradley began his public life as a police officer, rising to lieutenant and then retiring because he felt a black had little future in a department then dominated by prejudice. He practiced law, was elected to the Los Angeles City Council and was elected mayor in 1973 after losing in 1969.

That comeback from an initial loss has been in Bradley’s thoughts as he prepares to attempt what no other gubernatorial candidate has succeeded in doing since 1942--beating an incumbent governor seeking a second term.

Aware that he is an underdog given scant chance of beating Deukmejian, Bradley reminded people Tuesday of the comeback ability he showed in becoming mayor: “I’ve heard all the naysayers, all those who say it can’t be done. I’ve heard them all my life.”

As he repeated his speech at each stop, he concentrated on what aides said will be the central themes of his campaign.

In addition to pledging to improve state regulation of toxics, Bradley talked about education. He proposed reducing class size and improving the quality of instruction. But while criticizing Deukmejian for allowing California’s national class-size ranking to deteriorate, Bradley offered no suggestions on how to raise the massive amounts of money needed to cure the situation.

In San Francisco, Bradley encountered some indication of how hard he will have to campaign in the north to overcome hostility to Southern California.

One caller on a radio talk show expressed unhappiness over the move of the National Football League’s Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles. Bradley replied that Deukmejian also backed the Raiders’ move south. Other callers said they were afraid Southern California would take water needed by the north.