They Mirror Party : Californians: Liberalism and Ethnicity

Sheila Goldberg of Venice, Calif., is the wife of a stockbroker. She got into politics in the civil rights struggle of the early 1960s, went on to the anti-war movement, now devotes much of her time to raising money for homeless people by sponsoring tours of Venice art studios.

She is white.

Sadie Reid-Benham of Santa Ana, who lost an arm in a grinding machine while working at age 16 in a factory that made chili, is the daughter of an impoverished minister and the wife of a public school administrator.

She is black. Until she lost her seat on the Santa Ana school board last year, she was the only black elected official in Orange County.

For Goldberg, the reasons to support Michael S. Dukakis are straightforward and unemotional: “He’s a liberal, and he’s pragmatic enough to get the job done.”

For Reid-Benham, who at first took little part in Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign, the reasons for action flow from more personal wellsprings: “When my mom said that in her life, she never thought she would be able to vote for a black for President, and she walked five or six blocks to vote, I really got turned on.”

Two women, one a supporter of Dukakis, the other a backer of Jackson, tell the story of the largest single delegation in this steamy convention city--the 363 Democrats representing California.

Cloudy Future

And in a larger sense, the gulf separating the lives of these two women--and the efforts they are making to bridge the gap--reveal much about the present state of the Democratic Party today and about the problems clouding its future.

It is a delegation that, like the party as a whole, is torn by profound differences, yet is struggling to stay unified in pursuit of the one thing that all its members agree they want: a Democrat in the White House next Jan. 20.

It is also more liberal and more ethnically diverse not only than a comparable sample of American voters, but than the average Democratic delegation here this week, according to data gathered by the Times Poll. It is also on the average better educated than Democratic delegates as a whole.

Delegates to national nominating conventions, whether Democrats or Republicans, on the whole tend to feel more strongly about their parties’ principles than those who simply vote one party or the other, but the issues-oriented liberalism of the Californians stands out.

Agree on South Africa

A survey of 318 California delegates, for instance, found that 83% agreed that the United States should declare South Africa a “terrorist state.” Nationally, 73% of the Democratic delegates agreed with that statement.

California delegates also felt more strongly than their national counterparts that this country should increase its economic investment in Third World nations, reflecting in part the strong ethnic diversity of the delegation.

And that ethnic diversity is both a source of hope for the Democrats’ future and a cause of tensions now. Optimism because it reflects a potential appeal to new voters as the United States experiences yet another dramatic wave of immigration. Tension because such periods of immigration are inevitably bruising and unsettling.

In all, the 363-member delegation now strikes this balance: 21% Latino, 18% black, 51% white and 10% other. (For Jackson, the breakdown is 19% Latino, 27% white, 43% black and 11% other. Dukakis’ delegation is 23% Latino, 64% white, 4% black and 9% other.)

Demographically, the most striking characteristic of the delegation is the size of its Latino element--the result of a major effort in the state Democratic Party to reflect Latinos’ burgeoning population statewide.

Outnumber Blacks

California’s Latino delegates outnumber even blacks in an election year when a black man won 116 of the state’s 314 elected delegates.

The impact of the Latino contingent is magnified by its network of personal relationships and shared political views.

“We’re together all the time,” said Dukakis delegate Roy Perez, 44, who is sharing a room in Atlanta with two Jackson delegates. “We are all friends.”

He said the Latino delegates in each camp cannot be identified by age, income or even political views. The differences are more subtle: Dukakis’ Latino delegates are more pragmatic. They want a winner. Jackson’s delegates are “much more idealistic,” he said.

‘Like to Wear the Suit’

There may also be a difference in style, Perez said. Dukakis’ Latino delegates “like to wear the suit and tie--that’s the difference.”

The remainder of the delegation is represented mostly by whites and blacks, by people like Reid-Benham and Goldberg.

Reid-Benham is Protestant, as are well over half of the state’s delegates for Jackson, and she is among the 43% who are black. By contrast, less than a third of Dukakis’ delegates from California are Protestant and blacks account for only 4% of the Dukakis delegation.

Reid-Benham, at 58, is older than many of her fellow Jackson delegates from California, half of whom are under 40. (Almost two-thirds of Dukakis’ delegates are over 40.)

She has had an up-by-the-bootstraps life, spending her early years in the poor rural South and moving later to Detroit.

Held Onto Hope for Jackson

Inspired by her mother, Reid-Benham held onto the hope that Jackson might be nominated for President, or at least be selected as Dukakis’ running mate.

When Dukakis dashed that hope with his choice of Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, and allowed Jackson to learn of the decision from reporters instead of from him directly, Reid-Benham was among those Jackson delegates who were tempted to side with those who wanted to make trouble at the convention.

But Reid-Benham has a little more experience than some of the delegates she counsels.

“I just remember so distinctly what happened with Carter and Kennedy,” she said, referring to former President Jimmy Carter’s divisive squabble with Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy at the 1980 convention, which she attended. At a pre-convention meeting of Orange County delegates, she said: “The bottom line is, I hope we will not come away divided anymore.”

On Monday, Reid-Benham was among the Jackson delegates who expressed relief and cautious optimism after Jackson told them he had sat down with Dukakis and Bentsen in a “serious meeting.” Though he gave only clues as to what took place, Jackson was sober rather than angry and left a packed room of his supporters chanting “ Dis- cipline. De -tails. Hope .”

Goldberg, who is 49, describes herself as a lifelong Democrat who learned politics “at my daddy’s knee.” She says her father was once committed to the Communist Party.

‘Wonderful Inspiration’

“Jesse Jackson is a wonderful inspiration,” she said, “but I have never seen anything he has taken on come to fruition. I also don’t think he speaks for the majority of blacks or black politicians, even though most of them support him,” she said.

“I don’t know the Jackson delegation,” she said.

However, Goldberg comes close to agreeing with Jackson on some of the most disputed planks in the Democratic platform.

But Goldberg says she will remain loyal to Dukakis on the platform even where she disagrees with his positions because she has confidence in his abilities.

Staff writer Maura Dolan contributed to this story.