Anti-Prop. 51 Mailer Touches Off GOP Uproar

A slate mailer financed largely by foes of Proposition 51, the “deep-pockets” initiative, to 2 million Republican households roused a furor in GOP circles Thursday, with Gov. George Deukmejian’s campaign director charging that its authors “lack ethics, lack character and have illustrated an absolute contempt” for Republican voters.

Larry Thomas, the campaign director, said the use of Deukmejian’s name in the mailer “represents the very, very worst example of abuse of facts and the grossest misrepresentation” in light of the fact that the governor is an ardent supporter of the initiative.

The initiative, to be decided in Tuesday’s election, if passed would limit liability for non-economic damages such as “pain and suffering” to a defendant’s degree of blame in lawsuits involving more than one defendant.

Thomas said that Michael Mercier of the Republic Media Group--who put together the mailer using anti-Proposition 51 language supplied by the main campaign firm working against the initiative--had assured him in unequivocal language in a mailgram May 22 that Deukmejian’s name would not be used in any way.

The second sentence of Mercier’s mailgram to Thomas said, “My company is not using Gov. Deukmejian’s name in connection with any of our activities.”

Mercier’s attorney, Joe Remcho, confirmed to The Times that this language had been used. But Remcho said that after the mailgram he informed Deukmejian’s attorney, Steve Churchwell, on Mercier’s behalf that Deukmejian’s name would be used.

Churchwell said that Remcho had told him nothing of the sort. And Thomas said that Remcho’s attempts Thursday to explain why his clients had wiggled out of the commitment simply were another example of how deceiving the slate mailers were meant to be. (A slate mailer is a mailer in which voters are urged to cast ballots for a group of candidates and propositions.)

When the mailers appeared Thursday, Deukmejian’s name did appear on the slate, along with several other Republican candidates who had paid to have their names included, apparently in hopes of gaining exposure with Republican voters.

The mailer uses language against Proposition 51 that has been developed in a television blitz by the traditionally Democratic Michael Berman-Carl D’Agostino campaign organization, the main firm coordinating the anti-51 campaign, but it gives it a distinctly Republican and anti-liberal twist.

“Attention all Republicans!” the mailer says. “3 Reasons to Vote NO on Prop 51: 1 Republicans are fed up with liberals letting the guilty off the hook. Just like murderers and rapists, toxic polluters who cause cancer MUST be held fully accountable and strictly punished. 2 Prop. 51 will cost you money. More people will go on welfare and there will be more, not fewer, lawsuits. 3 Republicans oppose 51 because we believe that individuals must take responsibility for their actions--not blame others for what they’ve done wrong. Don’t let the guilty off the hook. Vote No on 51.”

Besides Deukmejian, the other Republicans on what is described in the mailer as the “Republican Team ‘86” include candidates Mike Curb, running for lieutenant governor; Orange County Supervisor Bruce Nestande, running for secretary of state; state Sen. William Campbell, running for state controller; Bruce Gleason, running for attorney general, and Rep. Ed Zschau, running for the U.S. Senate. With the exception of Deukmejian, all the candidates are opposed in Tuesday’s primary.

Mercier said, and Jack McDowell of the pro-51 campaign firm of Woodward and McDowell confirmed, that Mercier had offered to let the pro-51 campaign buy its way onto the mailer but that it had refused. McDowell said the price offered was $110,000.

Governor’s Support?

Thomas, the Deukmejian campaign director, said that despite a disclaimer indicating that Deukmejian had not paid to be named in the mailer and was not necessarily allied with ballot proposition endorsements, “the very existence of the governor’s name on this slate . . . suggests that the governor is supporting these candidates and taking this position on the initiative and . . . those suggestions are absolutely false.”

Mercier said his mailer was within the law, adding, “I don’t characterize using the governor in any way. Our intention was to carry a full ballot and contribute to this year’s election, and that’s all it is.” He said he did not understand why Thomas was making such a fuss.

Once Deukmejian actually sees the mailer, Mercier said, “He may not admit it, but he may like it. This is a very positive thing for him.” He said that some Republicans assume that all Republicans are for Proposition 51, but that this is not the case.

Thomas said, “We hear a lot these days about tactics that are employed in political campaigns that are slightly over the line or are in the gray area.” But, he said, this is not in the gray area, it is “the very, very worst.”

Not Cross-Endorsement

However, Jerry Haleva, a spokesman for Republican controller candidate Campbell, said he saw nothing wrong with it. “Slate mailers have never in our opinion meant cross-endorsements,” he said. He added that Campbell wants to be “on any mailer with George Deukmejian’s name on it that we can get on.”