Bradley Returns to Toxics in Bid to Close Gap

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley on Tuesday returned to the most effective theme of his gubernatorial campaign, toxic-waste control, as he launched a final drive to overtake Gov. George Deukmejian.

Democrat Bradley repeated his charge that Republican Deukmejian, if reelected, would not effectively enforce Proposition 65, the toxic control measure on the November ballot. The measure is far ahead in public opinion surveys.

“We can clearly predict that if he gets reelected and the proposition passes, he will simply use every device possible . . . to see that the initiative does not become effective,” Bradley told about 1,000 students at a San Jose State University noontime rally.

Tired of Pollution

In San Diego, he said: “We are tired of exposing ourselves and our families to the chemicals that are polluting our drinking water, threatening us with cancer and birth defects. We will not be stopped, no matter how much the toxic-waste industry spends getting their friend George ‘Duck-mejian’ elected.”

Using the nickname to hit at the governor’s refusal to debate, Bradley said, “Well, he can duck but he can’t hide.”

Bradley loaded the speeches with what polls have said is his most potent ammunition of the campaign: an ability to portray himself as a better toxic-pollution fighter than the governor.

Convinced early in the year that the public is deeply concerned about the dangers of chemical pollution, Bradley aides worked with environmentalists drafting Proposition 65 and helped them get it on the ballot.

As the campaign moves into its final days, and Bradley trails by 10% in the Los Angeles Times Poll and by the same margin in his own survey taken last Friday, the mayor and his staff are hitting the toxics issue on television and in personal appearances.

Actors Praise Him

On television, actors Carroll O’Connor and Burt Lancaster star in commercials praising Bradley and blasting Deukmejian on the issue.

On Tuesday, Bradley expanded on the environmental theme, criticizing Deukmejian for failing to support an attempt in Congress by California House members to impose a moratorium on offshore oil drilling.

Bradley began the day at a labor breakfast in San Diego, one of his weak areas.

“I need your help more than ever,” he told about 100 union members. “We can, my friends, win this election Nov. 4.”

In San Jose, a prospective strong point, Bradley told his student audience, “Never give up, never give in,” reiterating another early theme of his campaign. “That’s the motto I’ve followed all of my life and I’ve climbed many high mountains and I’ve made it so far.”

In a Tough Fight

But the mayor made it clear that he is in a tough fight.

“The governor is engaged in the greatest orgy of campaign spending seen in the history of the state,” he said in San Diego. But he added: “Let me tell you something. Money will not buy the people of California.”

The day began with a small foul-up when those in charge of Bradley’s transportation did not know the way to the San Diego union hall. While the mayor waited in his car at a gas station parking lot, aides telephoned for directions and Bradley made it to the speech.

Then, accompanied by two aides, a police bodyguard and two reporters, Bradley flew by commercial airliner to San Jose.

There was bad news awaiting him. He learned that the San Jose Mercury News, which endorsed him in 1982, is backing Deukmejian this year. Later in the day, Bradley met with the editorial board of the Peninsula Times-Tribune, hoping for that paper’s endorsement.