The Next Crusade : Weary From Long Campaign, Liberals Say New 4-Year Battle Has Just Begun

When the presidential election ended in George Bush’s favor, Venice peace activist and hunger striker Jerry Rubin was a little put out with America. After all, Rubin reasoned eight years of Republicanism was enough for anyone.

But there was no time to pout. He was too busy planning his next crusade.

“Last night, I tossed and turned for a while,” Rubin said the day after Bush’s victory. “But now it’s a beautiful day. I’m looking forward to continuing and redoubling my efforts. We have to reenergize.”

New Battle

As the reality of the Bush win set in, reenergizing was among the main orders of business for the Westside’s liberal grass-roots organizations.

Many had fought long and hard for Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis. And many more had pinned their hopes on the prospects of a more progressive political agenda in Washington once Dukakis took over from President Reagan.

Instead, the countless numbers of peace, pro-choice, gay-rights, environmental and homeless advocates who work out of liberal strongholds, such as Santa Monica and West Hollywood, found themselves re-assessing their objectives and readying their tired troops for four more years of battle.

For Rubin, leader of the Alliance for Survival, the election means more demonstrations against war toys, television and motion picture violence and the nuclear arms race. Rubin is also holding a New Year’s Eve Peace Party in which a magician will symbolically pull doves from a hat.

‘Big Setback’

“We will never give up,” said Rubin, who is not related to the 1960s activist who bears the same name. “To admit defeat is a horrible concept.”

At the California Abortion Rights Action League in Santa Monica, the sentiment was much the same. Robin Schneider, the executive director, called the Bush election a “big setback,” but said it could energize members.

“Often people don’t get active in something until they see clearly that something can be lost or has been lost,” Schneider said. “I think the pro-choice movement will grow stronger once the (election) reality sets in.”

The pro-choice movement is especially vulnerable now, Schneider added, because Bush opposes abortion and is expected to appoint Supreme Court justices who share that view. She said the group, which lobbies to keep abortions safe, legal and accessible, is already getting calls from concerned supporters.

Activists throughout the Westside, in fact, described the week after the presidential race as a time of intense activity. In Santa Monica and West Hollywood, where Dukakis received 62% and 74% of the vote, respectively, card-carrying liberalism is a way of life for many people, and there was no indication that Bush’s election is likely to change that.

Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), who heads the statewide political group called Campaign California, said the battle for the liberal agenda will continue once Bush moves into the White House, though Bush probably will not be as strident or as charismatic as Reagan.

“I think we have to do the best we can at protecting our corner of America,” Hayden said. “That includes working with the Democrats in the Senate and in Congress to protect our coastline and increase funding for education. . . . So I think a lot of our (effort) will be a holding action.”

Proposition O

Hayden, however, said he also found reasons for optimism in last week’s elections. The passage of Proposition O, an effort to stop oil drilling in Pacific Palisades, was seen as a major victory for Westside liberals. So was the approval of Proposition 95, a homeless initiative backed by Hayden.

The other good news for Westside progressives was the Election Night sweep by all of the Democratic members of the legislative and congressional delegation. In those contests, no one received less than 61% of the vote.

“I was very pleased with the California campaigns,” Hayden said. “I won’t say that people are inspired after this election. But they are up.”

U.S. Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica), an avid environmentalist, said the spirit of activism should continue unabated during the next presidential term. Like many others, Levine said losses often strengthen grass-roots organizations.

Citizen Activism

“One of the anomalies about the (Bush victory) is that it underscores the need for citizen activism,” Levine said. “And, to a great extent, activist groups on the Westside and in other parts of the country are strengthened because people understand much more clearly the need for them to exist.”

Levine, however, said he remains concerned about the repercussions for the coastline. Levine said that although Bush represented himself as an environmentalist during the campaign, he still must prove himself to concerned Californians.

“Dukakis had promised to protect Santa Monica Bay from oil drilling,” Levine said. “Bush has not. I believe the fight to protect the bay will be considerably tougher than it would have been under a Dukakis Administration.

“My hope is that the (Republicans), after eight years of trying as well as they knew how to move into areas that were environmentally inappropriate, will back off because they will understand that people in these communities are united in their efforts to resist this drilling,” Levine added.

Anti-Nuclear Concerns

For Andrew Tonkovich, the head of Westside SANE/Freeze, a group that opposes nuclear testing, nuclear proliferation and the Strategic Defense Initiative, there is little question of what to expect the next four years.

Anti-nuclear advocates must brace themselves for a tough time, he said.

“By any measure, we haven’t got a peace candidate,” Tonkovich said of Bush. “But we do know what we are able to do and that we can motivate people to get out and do the work. We have to keep educating people on the issues.”

SANE/Freeze, based in Santa Monica, has sponsored several well-attended demonstrations at the nuclear test site in Nevada and has another one planned for April. Santa Monica City Atty. Robert M. Myers, one of the group’s most active supporters, said Bush’s win was a real blow to the anti-nuclear lobby. But he does not expect to see an end to the protest movement.

“Having been energized for eight years with Reagan, it might have been nice to be less energized,” Myers said. “But I do not feel the movement will lose support. It will grow stronger because it will have to grow stronger.”

Tough Time

The Westside is also home to the Southern California branch of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The group has had a tough time of it under Reagan, a staunch opponent of its efforts to decriminalize marijuana.

Although both candidates spoke out against drug use during the presidential campaign, Dukakis was viewed as the lesser threat. Now, with Bush ready to take charge, Bruce Margolin said the organization’s job is more important than ever,

“NORML is there so there’s a responsible voice on behalf of marijuana users, and there are still millions of them in this country,” said Margolin, the group’s Los Angeles coordinator. “So we have to bring out the facts.”

Concern Among Gays

Gay activists were also banking on a Dukakis victory. They have long accused Reagan of ignoring the AIDS crisis, and there were high hopes among many that a Dukakis presidency would result in greater sensitivity.

Morris Kight, a Hollywood gay rights activist who serves as chairman of the Southern California Mobilization Against Aids and president of the county Human Relations Commission, said Bush appears to be no bargain for gays.

“I think he’s just as conservative as Reagan and not nearly as imaginative,” Kight said. “So he needs to be educated by the collective gay and lesbian community to the reality of AIDS--that it’s a horror, that we don’t know how long it’s going to go on and that a few million spent now could save billions down the road.”

Kight said he assumes the gay community will take up that challenge, though many were sorely disappointed by the outcome of the election.

“There has been a big letdown,” he said. “But we must go on. After all, he is the president. We must collectively work on (Bush’s) head to take a positive stance on AIDS. And that could happen, by the way, since he has said nothing about AIDS so far.”

Homeless Advocates

Many homeless advocates, who feel they have been shortchanged by Reagan, were also in Dukakis’s corner. Those on the Westside say the election of Bush gives them little reason for hope, but those who depend on the federal government for funding are trying to remain optimistic.

“I guess I want to take him (Bush) at his word that he will run a gentler administration,” said Rhonda Meister, director of the St. Joseph Center in Venice. “Perhaps that means he will focus on the real problems of homelessness and the economic disaster we’re in.”

And for the Alliance for Survival’s Rubin, hope never ends.

As a photographer snapped his picture at his Venice headquarters last week, Rubin was suddenly flushed with optimism.

“You know what?” Rubin asked, raising his hand in a familiar gesture from the 1960s. “I feel the urge to make a peace sign.”