But He Still Packs a Punch : Conservative Tide Pulling at Senate Leader Roberti

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti, in crushing what he perceived as a rebellion to topple him last week by an ambitious fellow Democrat and the No. 2 Senate Republican leader, has firmly established himself as a power not to be challenged lightly, his supporters and opponents agree.

In taking uncharacteristically decisive action to punish what he called the “insurgents” by taking away their most important committee assignments, Roberti relied heavily on support from both Republican supporters and a group of conservative Democrats who split away from him last year because they considered his policies too liberal.

But while he managed to hang on to the post he has held for six years, he continues to be pulled by a conservative tide that cost Democrats two Senate seats last November. That same tide spawned the formation of the six-member conservative Democratic caucus that also tugs on him to move his own policies closer to the center.

“The country, the state, the Democratic Party have moved more to the center,” observed one Republican senator. “David has to reflect that as any good leader would.”

Also threatening Roberti, who is seen as an adherent to the liberal Democratic policies of years past, is a more aggressive stance by Senate Republicans who have tasted victory in recent elections and who foresee a time not too far off when they might wrest control of the upper house for the first time since 1970. That could place them in control by 1991 when the party in power will write the next reapportionment plan, tailoring it to its own advantage.

Sen. Daniel E. Boatwright (D-Concord), a member of the conservative Democratic caucus, and Sen. John Seymour of Anaheim, the Republican caucus chairman, were blamed by Roberti for fomenting a coup, a charge both denied. And, while the conservative Democratic group has not sought Roberti’s overthrow, it has made itself felt in the Senate.

Iran-Contra Resolution

For example, when the Senate convened in January, a resolution by a liberal Democrat criticizing President Reagan on the Iran- contra scandal was beaten back when the conservative Democrats joined Republicans in a solid bloc. In years past, such a partisan resolution probably would have cleared the Senate.

Roberti blamed the loss on bad timing with the debate coming the same day that Reagan appointed the Tower Commission to investigate the affair. But others say liberals simply did not have the votes.

More recently, on a bill to establish a program in junior and senior high schools on the causes and prevention of AIDS, the conservative caucus members joined with Republicans and voted to stress the teaching of sexual abstinence as the primary method of preventing the spread of the deadly disease. Under this designation, the use of condoms and so-called “safe-sex” techniques would not receive as high a priority in the education.

There also have been indications that Roberti is now more willing to compromise with Republican Gov. George Deukmejian on his demands for a prison on Los Angeles’ heavily Latino Eastside. Republicans also said they detected Roberti pulling back when, despite his own opposition, he enabled the full Senate to vote on the confirmation of controversial Motor Vehicles Director Adelbert A. Pierce.

A Deukmejian appointee, Pierce was accused of saying he could handle the homosexual “problem” with a submachine gun, a charge he vigorously denied under oath. He was overwhelmingly confirmed.

“David didn’t want to push the vote on Del Pierce,” Seymour said. “And he didn’t have the votes because of this widening rift in his caucus.”

‘What He’s Got to Do’

But Seymour observed that to keep Democrats happy, Roberti must “pull on the left oar a little bit and then pull on the right oar a little bit. That’s what David has been doing, and quite honestly, in his position that’s what he has got to do.”

In an interview, Roberti denied that he had made a conscious shift to placate the conservative Democrats but conceded: “You adjust to the world. . . . But as the leader I have to be reflective of the house. That is awfully difficult sometimes to make people understand.”

Regardless of any gathering of conservative momentum, Senate Republicans and Democrats alike attributed the alleged coup to that never-changing basic element of politics, the drive for power.

Most critics contended that in disciplining Seymour and Boatwright, Roberti operated on “flimsy evidence” that he steadfastly refused to discuss publicly.

One veteran Republican, Sen. William A. Craven of Oceanside, whose credibility is respected on both sides of the aisle, observed that whether justified or not Roberti’s retaliatory actions “sent a signal to all of us perhaps that he is the man in charge of the Senate.”

Both sides have their sights set on the crucial special election March 17 to fill the seat of former Democratic Sen. Paul Carpenter of Norwalk, who was elected to the State Board of Equalization. Republicans express confidence that they will win the seat in a conservative district that straddles the Los Angeles and Orange counties line.

Democratic Margin

Democrats still maintain a 23-15 margin over Republicans with one seat occupied by an independent and one seat vacant.

A Republican win would put the GOP within five votes of the 21 needed to elect a new Senate leader and could enhance the chances of fashioning a coalition of the type Roberti accuses Seymour and Boatwright of engineering. A Democratic win would boost Democrats to 24 seats--three more than are needed to keep Roberti in office without defections.

Roberti, basically a shy man with a droll sense of humor and a reputation for compassion, has long chaffed under the shadow of charismatic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), whose dazzling, fast-lane leadership style has captured the public spotlight.

In the Assembly, the Speaker has enormous powers to dole out rewards and punishments. But in the Senate, a more genteel system restricts the power of the president pro tem. He must share it with a ruling five-member Rules Committee, which he chairs.

Consequently, Roberti and some of his predecessors have been handicapped by an image of indecisiveness and vulnerability.

For Roberti, the alleged coup represented the third challenge to his leadership. Carpenter took a run at him in 1983. Roberti responded by taking no disciplinary action.

Garamendi Rehabilitated

Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) did the same thing last year and was bounced off the important Budget Committee. Completing a year of rehabilitation, Garamendi was returned to power in January as chairman of the Revenue and Taxation Committee.

But the firing of Seymour and Boatwright from their most important committee assignments was the toughest action Roberti had ever taken against his rivals.

“On this third time, I decided to make the point that I am not unaware of the fact that I have an element of power and I do intend to use it,” Roberti said in an interview. “The power of the pro tem has been asserted that I don’t think it has been asserted in a long, long time. . . . One of the arrows in a leader’s quiver is the ability to do the unexpected, and your modus operandi should not always be the same.”

Sen. H. L. Richardson (R-Glendora), the senior GOP senator and a major fund-raiser for conservative causes, was among those on Roberti’s original hit list. But Roberti indicated in an interview that he now has second thoughts about Richardson’s involvement, adding that “his activity was more on the margins.”

Richardson maintains that he had no involvement, calling the allegations a “lot of bull.” But he acknowledged that he would make a run at Roberti “if the opportunity was there. It’s like putting ice cream in front of me. Knowing how much I like it, I’m going to eat it.”

The conservative caucus of six Democrats was fashioned in 1986 in an attempt to give conservative members a united voice in trying to turn to the right the liberal policies of Roberti and his top lieutenants. Members have always maintained that they never were a political force that could be utilized as a bloc.

Roberti Gets Word

However, those who believe Boatwright was moving against Roberti say he mistakenly believed that he could mobilize the conservative caucus in a coalition with Republicans. Not only did the conservative Democrats fail to join in, but Republicans also turned out to be fractious with some continuing to favor Roberti.

Republican and Democratic sources said GOP floor leader James W. Nielsen of Rohnert Park called Roberti, apparently unbeknown to Seymour, and gave him the first “early warning” of unrest. In addition, at least three members of the conservative Democratic group tipped Roberti off to the rumors of an impending coup.

“I have had to endure all the speculation that the Democrats were fractured and the Republicans were 15 solid votes looking for just about anybody but David Roberti,” the Senate leader said. “That is just not the case. Republicans have their splits that go just as deep and (are) as longstanding as anything we’ve got in our party.”

Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), an opponent of the proposed Eastside prison, said talk by those who expressed dissatisfaction with Roberti’s leadership in blocking the prison “simply serves as camouflage to the issue of politics--Who is going to be the best leader? Who will be able to raise money for candidates? Who will be able to raise specific issues important to members?”

Torres, who witnessed a speakership fight as an assemblyman, said most legislative rebellions grow out of raw political ambition, adding: “That hasn’t changed since Plato. That’s the bottom line.”

Intends Challenge

While Boatwright at first insisted that he was not part of any coup, he conceded that he had told Roberti three years ago that when Roberti stepped down he was interested in succeeding him. Last week, he made clear that he intends to challenge Roberti sometime after the March 17 special election.

“I don’t want to be pro tem for the sake of being pro tem,” Boatwright said, asserting that the combative Roberti fails to discuss disputes with Deukmejian. “The only reason I want it is to bring the house together so that we can sit down and negotiate with the governor on things like education and toxics. Now, that isn’t getting done.”

In meting out punishment to Boatwright and Seymour, Roberti also solidified himself with Sen. Robert Presley of Riverside, a founder of the conservative Democratic caucus. He replaced Boatwright as chairman of the important Appropriations Committee with Presley, also mentioned as a possible pro tem candidate.

Presley said he now has no plans to challenge Roberti but would consider doing so in the future if “there were a number of totally dissatisfied people and if I also felt that things were not going very well.”

Some Republicans supporters of Roberti have been rewarded with assignments to committees whose members are in line to receive hefty campaign contributions from special interests, although Seymour claimed that more GOP members should be appointed to such committees.

Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) said no matter who is suggested as a possible replacement for Roberti, there would be some Republicans who would stick with Roberti because he hands out the favors.

“Some people would say maybe the devil we’ve got is better than the devil we’ll get,” Davis said. “It depends on how they perceive what it would do for them personally. For all politicians, it’s just a part of their psychological make-up that they are constantly thinking of their survival.”