Ex.-Gov. Babbitt Enters Presidential Race

Former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt on Wednesday became the first 1988 Democratic presidential candidate in the eyes of the law by filing papers for a presidential campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission.

At a Washington press conference announcing the move, San Francisco attorney Duane Garrett who will chair Babbitt’s campaign, said Babbitt would formally declare his candidacy in March. By skipping the usual preliminary step of announcing an exploratory committee, Babbitt and his advisers appeared to be trying to signal his determination and also to capture some badly needed attention.

The 48-year-old Babbitt, who was governor of Arizona for more than eight years, is little known outside his own state and gets only single-digit ratings in most opinion polls on voter preference for the 1988 campaign.

Important Assets

Despite his relative obscurity, Babbitt brings some important assets to the Democratic presidential campaign, including his experience as a state chief executive, his base in the Southwest--an area where the Democrats badly need strength--and a reputation as an innovator in solving government problems.

He also is no stranger to controversy. By calling out the National Guard to deal with violence in an Arizona mining strike early in his tenure as governor, he angered organized labor. More recently, his proposal for means-testing for entitlement programs, using income as a criterion for receiving benefits, has caused concern among party liberals.

Babbitt is expected to appeal mostly for moderate and conservative votes in the 1988 primaries and caucuses. He will have to compete for such support against Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, both of whom are also expected to announce their candidacies later this year.

Former Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado is considered the front-runner in the Democratic field, largely because of the national attention he received as a result of his 1984 bid for the nomination.

Southern Primary Critical

The Southern regional primary the week of March 8, in which about 30% of all Democratic convention delegates will be elected, is considered to be critical to Babbitt’s chances. But Garrett said the traditional early contests in Iowa and New Hampshire will still be important in terms of winnowing out candidates who are unable to live up to expectations raised for them.

Babbitt’s advisers represent a broad range of past Democratic presidential campaigns. Besides Garrett, who was an official of the 1984 presidential campaign of Walter F. Mondale, they include Jean Westwood, who was an adviser to the 1972 George McGovern campaign and former chair of the Democratic National Committee, and Sergio Bendixin, who worked for the Edward M. Kennedy campaign in 1980 and managed the Alan Cranston campaign in 1984.

After leaving office Jan. 5, Babbitt, a former attorney general of Arizona who was trained in law at Harvard University, joined the Washington law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, which recently opened an office in Phoenix.