Some of the Faithful Are Miffed : Democrats Hope New Club Will Help Revitalize Party

Using nationally prominent Democrats as drawing cards, local Democratic activists have launched a new organization aimed at, in the words of one founder, rejuvenating their party in San Diego “financially and spiritually.”

The newly organized Democratic Foundation of San Diego, targeted at high-rollers willing to spend $1,000 a year to rub shoulders with political celebrities at monthly meetings, could, its organizers hope, ultimately raise more than $100,000 annually for voter registration drives, get-out-the-vote campaigns and subsidies to the often financially strapped local Democratic Party.

Although encouraged by the prospects for much-needed financial assistance, some local Democratic officials are concerned that the new group could undercut the San Diego County Democratic Central Committee, the party’s basic organizational apparatus, by diverting financial and manpower resources to a new outlet. The Democratic Foundation’s organizers, however, argue that their group will complement, not undermine, the Central Committee.

Patterned after a similar organization in Orange County, the Democratic Foundation’s aim, according to founder Kevin Kinsella, is to “help make San Diego a more prominent spot on the map” with national Democratic figures while at the same time boosting morale among local Democrats by frequently bringing the party’s national heavyweights here.

“For many national Democrats, San Diego is not exactly considered a hot spot,” said Kinsella, a 40-year-old businessman and close ally of former San Diego County Democratic Chairman Tom La Vaut. “We want to change that by showing them that there are reasons, financial and otherwise, to visit here, and not just during campaigns. And those visits will help to liven things up and create some excitement locally. It’s a very symbiotic relationship.”

Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.), one of the early front-runners for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, appeared at the group’s inaugural meeting earlier this month at the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla. Kinsella is negotiating with Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) to speak at a late January meeting, and has secured commitments for future appearances from Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), a leading figure in the U.S. House of Representatives, and pollster Patrick Caddell, perhaps best known for his work with former President Jimmy Carter. Other likely 1987 speakers include Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.

Kinsella and the Democratic Foundation’s two other principals, Price Club founder Sol Price and businessman M. Larry Lawrence, chairman of Hotel del Coronado Corp., already have enlisted 25 $1,000 members--a figure that they hope to at least double in 1987 and to expand to perhaps several hundred over the next few years.

The membership list (including those who have pledged to join early next year) is highlighted by luminaries from San Diego’s civic, business and political circles, such as San Diego Padres President Ballard Smith and his wife, Linda; banker Murray Galinson, a top national staffer in Walter Mondale’s unsuccessful 1984 presidential race; Bill Nelson, president of the San Diego Opera Company; arts patron Danah Fayman; Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), and Price’s son, Robert Price, the Price Club’s president and chief executive officer.

“After getting the big players in,” Kinsella explained, the group hopes to recruit an even larger number of $50-a-year associate members.

The difference in annual membership dues confers different levels of intimacy with the political celebrities who appear before the group. While the $50 associates will briefly meet the guests at cocktail parties, those paying $1,000 will attend dinners at which the guests will speak and participate in question-and-answer sessions.

A longstanding frustration among local party activists is that while national Democrats frequently visit Los Angeles or San Francisco for fund-raising activities and to enhance their West Coast visibility, they rarely include San Diego on their itineraries. But a local organization that offers Democrats, particularly those with aspirations for national office, an opportunity to establish rapport with civic leaders who could become valuable future allies could quickly change that tendency, Kinsella argues.

“Even though these people are just a hop and a skip away when they’re in L.A., they’ve usually felt there’s no reason to come here,” Kinsella said. “But once you let them know there are 25 or so people who’ve paid $1,000 to meet and listen to them, you don’t have to repeat yourself. They’ll see the advantages.”

Because the Democratic Foundation is still in its formative stages, both its immediate and long-range plans remain broad, with the specifics to be filled in later, dependent to a large degree on how quickly the membership grows. Kinsella, who jokingly likens himself to “someone who’s preparing to turn over a dictatorship to a civilian government,” plans to seek the group’s chairmanship when officers and a board are elected early next year.

The consensus among current members, however, is that beyond serving as a forum for national Democratic leaders, the group should confine its activities to general areas that will theoretically benefit all Democrats, such as funding voter registration campaigns and get-out-the-vote efforts at election time. The Democratic Club’s founders say they have no current plans to provide direct financial aid to candidates or issues campaigns--a stance that many members feel should be rigidly adhered to in the future.

“My personal feeling is that this thing would fall apart in 20 minutes if it starts to get into supporting particular issues or candidates,” Sol Price said. “If this is seen as a private vehicle for anyone, it’s going to be divisive and won’t work.”

“Anytime you want to support X, someone else is going to want to support Y, and boom!--you’ve got a split,” added Galinson, president of the San Diego National Bank. “The best thing we can do is get people excited and pumped up over the political process by attracting some national Democratic figures here on a regular basis. Getting involved in specific races could detract from that.”

Kinsella acknowledges that there also have been “some tensions” with Democratic Central Committee officials over the group’s formation, but insists that he envisions a good working relationship once party leaders become convinced that “we’re not trying to squeeze them out.”

The managing general partner of Avalon Ventures, a La Jolla-based venture capital firm that over the past three years has founded six companies in diverse fields such as molecular biology research and microcomputer software, Kinsella admits that some people may have been put off by his own hard-charging style. For example, Kinsella admits that he “probably erred” in not seeking guidance from Democratic Central Committee Chairwoman Irma Munoz prior to officially launching the Democratic Foundation.

“I don’t need people’s permission to go out and start a business, and I took the same attitude toward this,” Kinsella said. “The notion that I had to go out and get every Democrat’s permission would have guaranteed that this would never happen. But, in retrospect, maybe I should have talked to Irma earlier.”

In an attempt to smooth things over, Kinsella and Munoz have since had several discussions, and Kinsella received a warm reception when he explained his plans to the Central Committee earlier this month. To further allay suspicions about the motivations behind the new group, Kinsella says the Democratic Foundation may help to subsidize the Central Committee’s operations, as well as provide financial aid to the numerous Democratic clubs in neighborhoods throughout the county. In addition, the Democratic county chair will serve as an ex officio member--and one for whom the $1,000 fee will be waived--on the Democratic Foundation’s board.

Munoz, who assiduously avoids public criticism of her fellow Democrats, expressed guarded praise for the new group’s goals.

“I applaud any organization that wants to help provide a support system for local Democrats,” Munoz said. “I understand that the Central Committee is not the party, but is only part of the party. I don’t see other organized groups of Democrats as competitive, but rather as something that can help.”

Skepticism about the Democratic Foundation, however, remains strong within the Central Committee, where the new group is viewed by some as a still unknown commodity that could, protestations on both sides notwithstanding, become a source of competition.

The involvement of former party leader La Vaut, who dismissed the Central Committee as “a toothless, harmless old lion” when he opted not to seek reelection last spring, has led to suspicions that the new group may have, to use a much bandied-about phrase, “a secret agenda.” Others simply question whether the new group will follow through with its ambitious goals and promises, which include tentative plans to help the party groom potential candidates.

“It’s a nice proposition, but I don’t buy it at this point,” said one Democratic Executive Committee member.

Perhaps the major concern, however, is that the Democratic Foundation could weaken the Central Committee by siphoning off most of the party’s major movers and shakers. Both Munoz and Kinsella, however, say they expect that that will not prove to be the case.

“We’re going to appeal to people who, for whatever reasons, choose not to participate in the nitty-gritty of politics,” said Kinsella, a former Central Committee member who characterizes the Democratic Foundation as a “more effective outlet” for his own political activity.

“These are people who aren’t going to walk precincts or lick stamps,” Kinsella added. “They’re not doing anything with the Central Committee now and probably wouldn’t in the future. This is a way to get them more involved, to accentuate the fact that they’re Democrats. I think we’re going to bring a lot of Democrats who haven’t been active before out of the woodwork.”

“They’re targeting a different market,” Munoz agreed. “The people who are interested and can afford to do something like this don’t necessarily want to do volunteer work. So, I’m not going to be territorial about this.”

Ever image conscious, the group’s founders take pains, however, to dispel the notion that the $1,000-a-year club could become the private province of well-to-do individuals who consider the nuts and bolts of politics to be beneath them.

“Some of us have walked the precincts and licked the stamps in the past, but now our tongues are worn out and our feet are gone,” Galinson said. “Now we’re looking for a new kind of political experience.”

Kinsella, meanwhile, said that he understands some of the skepticism that his group has engendered, adding that the best way to overcome those concerns will be to establish a track record that strengthens the local party.

“People in politics tend to be very suspicious and even a little paranoid, so I realize we’re going to have to continue to demonstrate good faith, and we’re prepared to do that,” Kinsella said. “Any concern that this is a zero-sum game just isn’t accurate. But in a couple of years, I think the benefits will be so obvious . . . that the major question will be why we didn’t do something like this sooner.”