Prop. 68 Foes Use Klan to Push Message

Opponents of Proposition 68 began a last-minute television campaign Friday with a commercial featuring white-robed “members” of the Ku Klux Klan who, an announcer in the ad says, could receive tax dollars under the campaign finance initiative.

The No on Propositions 68 and 73 organization, which has been virtually silent until now, also began sending out nearly 3 million individualized slate mailers urging voters to reject both initiatives when they vote in Tuesday’s election. (Proposition 73 is a competing campaign finance measure.)

Walter Zelman, manager of the campaign in support of Proposition 68, called the television commercial “a gross distortion of reality” and said it is “misleading” to suggest that any extremist would meet the initiative’s fund-raising requirements to qualify for matching funds.

Proponents’ TV Spot

In response to the ad, the proponents of Proposition 68 will start running a television spot today featuring Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp warning voters not to be misled by distortions or scare tactics, Zelman said.

Although both sides have had difficulty raising funds to advertise their points of view, they will be hitting the airwaves in a last-ditch effort to get their messages out this weekend and Monday--the time when campaign strategists believe most voters will be making up their minds.

The Ku Klux Klan television commercial is an attempt to focus attention on the public financing provision of the initiative--as well as to add an emotional element pointing out that even racist and extremist groups could qualify for public subsidies.

Proposition 68, which is backed by a broad coalition that includes Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, would provide matching tax dollars to qualified legislative candidates who agree to adhere to limits on the amount of money they spend in their campaigns.

To qualify for matching funds, a candidate would have to raise $20,000 in amounts of $1,000 or less in an Assembly race and $30,000 in amounts of $1,000 or less in an Assembly race.

Up to $250 of each contribution would be matched with tax dollars at a ratio of 5 to 1 for contributions that come from within the candidate’s district and 3 to 1 for donations from outside the district. The maximum amount of matching funds available would range from $75,000 to $175,000, depending on the race.

Limit Size on Contributions

Proposition 68, which is designed to curtail the influence of special interest groups and powerful legislative leaders, would also limit the size of campaign contributions, prohibit non-election year fund raising and ban the transfer of campaign funds between candidates.

Critics of the initiative, including Gov. George Deukmejian and the legislative leaders of both parties, say that political extremists could take advantage of the public financing provision to qualify for thousands of dollars in taxpayers’ money to promote their points of view.

In the commercial, a handsome young politician is portrayed giving a speech with a U.S. flag in the background as the announcer says, “If Proposition 68 passes, millions of our tax dollars will go to political campaigns.

“A law that gives our tax money to mainstream candidates allows our tax money to go to extremists who qualify, like Lyndon LaRouche or even members of the Ku Klux Klan.”

The camera pans to show a group of hooded “klansmen” sitting in the room as the young politician says with a smirk, “We raise $20,000, and the taxpayers give us 75 grand.”

Bruce Cain, a professor of political science at Caltech and a spokesman for the opposition organization, said the commercial is an attempt to sway voters by encapsulating a complicated subject in a brief commercial.

Cain said he found no paradox in the fact that the commercial attacks the public financing provision even though he and some other opponents of Proposition 68 actually favor the concept of public financing.

‘Complex Issue in 20 Seconds’

“It’s not ironic,” he said. “They (the opposition committee) want to defeat the thing, and they’re trying to portray a very complex issue in 20 seconds.”

Cain attacked Proposition 68 for not providing what he called “legitimate public financing” and said the ballot measure would do nothing to limit the influence of special interest groups. In fact, he contended, special interest contributions could be enhanced by the matching funds.

The commercial, prepared by campaign strategists Michael Berman and Carl D’Agostino, also urges voters to reject Proposition 73, a rival initiative that would ban public financing in state, local and legislative races. Proposition 73, sponsored by three state legislators, would also limit campaign contributions and ban the transfer of campaign funds.

Zelman said he was “personally offended” by the commercial’s portrayal of Ku Klux Klan members and said, “It’s fear tactics, and it’s scare tactics.”

Opponents of Proposition 68 said they hope to spend between $400,000 and $600,000 to air the commercial and more than $200,000 on campaign mailers.

The computerized mailers, sent primarily to Democratic voters, have been so individualized to appeal to targeted voters that there are about 300,000 different versions of the slates being mailed out, spokesmen for the campaign said.

One mailer depicts a smiling presidential candidate Michael Dukakis above a statement from Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) calling Proposition 68 “a campaign hoax” and “an outrage.”