Ueberroth Silent as GOP ‘Hot Prospect’ for Governor’s Race

Peter Ueberroth was not among the California Republicans invited to President Bush’s inaugural. He barely knows the chairman of the state Republican Party, and he was not aware that an important GOP convention is coming up in Sacramento.

But it doesn’t matter.

Ueberroth, president of the 1984 Olympics and currently commissioner of baseball, is one of his party’s hottest prospects for governor in 1990.

“I think he would have the nomination for the asking if Pete Wilson doesn’t want it,” said state Republican Chairman Robert Naylor, the latter a reference to California’s junior senator who will decide soon whether to seek the governorship.

‘Motherhood and Apple Pie’

“He (Ueberroth) is about as motherhood and apple pie as you can get,” Naylor said. “He’s John Wayne without the violence. He’d be an exciting candidate for us.”

Ray Remy, president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, said, “Peter Ueberroth has style, he has charisma, he can sway an audience with a speech. There are not many people around who can do that.

“And he’s already got something that is awfully hard to come by in this state--major name identification. Almost everybody knows who he is.”

Ueberroth, 51, will return to his home in Laguna Beach after he retires as baseball commissioner on March 31.

Said to be more interested in public service than in the private sector, where his travel agency made him a millionaire, Ueberroth’s imminent return to the state has set off speculation that he will seek the governorship with an eye on the presidency way down the road.

There have been rumors for weeks that he is already seeking advice from Republican leaders and contributors. But Ueberroth denied that in an interview.

“Some people are saying that a lot of people are pushing me to do it, but I’m telling you they’re not,” Ueberroth said. “I’m walking around out here by myself.”

And in fact Ueberroth did show up for an interview at The Times without even an aide-de-camp, striding in with his tie loosened and suit jacket slung over his shoulder.

He acknowledged that he might explore a race for governor in the spring, but he also insisted he is not sure he wants the job, does not know if he could do it well and does not have positions on issues facing the state.

“I don’t know the important things about the job,” Ueberroth said. “ . . . I don’t know enough about it. I know some issues, but I’m a neophyte. Positions are something you have after some study.

“I know water is an issue, but I don’t know how serious it is or where it fits in a list of priorities. I do have some ideas about transportation because it is an issue I’ve followed over the years.

“If I have a role--whether it be governor or whatever--when I came back to California, it would be to solve problems. That is what I do well.”

One longtime Ueberroth watcher said all of that simply means he really does want to be governor.

“That’s classic Ueberroth,” said this source, who asked not to be identified. “The more he wants something, the less he lets on. The more he’s interested, the more he acts like he hasn’t given it much thought, the more he pretends not to know very much about it.”

In Bakersfield the other day, Ueberroth was besieged to run for governor from the time he showed up to give a speech until he left.

“I just know he’d be good at it. We just have to talk him into doing it,” said Donald M. Hart, former mayor of Bakersfield and one of the organizers of the 31st Annual Kern County Business Outlook Conference that Ueberroth addressed.

“I’m a Democrat, but I’d support him,” Hart said. “You know why? Because he’s not a politician. The job he did with the Olympics and what he’s done with baseball and the drug problem, well, you’d have to say the man’s got the touch.”

Jack Pandol Sr., one of the San Joaquin Valley’s most influential agribusinessmen, introduced Ueberroth to the 2,200 business people at the conference luncheon this way:

“Pay close attention to this fellow. I understand he may be able to change a baseball suit into one that is usually worn by a Duke.”

Republicans Scrambling

That was a reference to Gov. George Deukmejian, whose decision not to seek a third term has sent Republicans scrambling for a candidate to take on the Democrats in 1990.

Pandol, a backer of Republican causes, was instrumental in getting Ueberroth to speak at the Bakersfield conference. But his jaw dropped a little when his man moved into the speech.

Ueberroth sounded like a bleeding-heart Democrat.

Saying that “if enough people care about something, they can solve it,” Ueberroth told the crowd, “The first thing I want to talk to you about is hunger. It is absurd--and you know it is absurd--that anybody in this country goes hungry. You know that better than I do, living in this so-productive county. . . .

“The second thing I want to talk about is the homeless. There is some evidence here that you have this problem. . . . There is no reason that people should be homeless in the United States of America.”

Ueberroth challenged government and the private sector to do better on those two problems. He went on to urge businesses to adopt schools and pay for such things as playground equipment, and he challenged his listeners to do more to stop the drug problem in their communities.

From the looks on the faces of those in the audience, this stern lecture was something of a surprise. There was a restlessness in the sea of folding chairs.

Then Ueberroth reached out and got them back with a story.

‘Run, Amy, Run’

“I call it ‘Run, Amy, Run,’ ” he said.

He described how Amy, a physically handicapped child in New Mexico, trained for months to be in the 1984 Olympics Torch Relay; how her mother held bake sales to raise the $3,000 charity contribution required of torch carriers, and how little Amy ran farther than anyone had dreamed and left hundreds along the route weeping because of her courage.

By the time Ueberroth finished, there was hardly a dry eye on the podium. Pandol was sniffling as he thanked Ueberroth for the speech.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Remy said when told of Ueberroth’s speech.

But Remy, a Republican and a former deputy to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, also believes Ueberroth could have some liabilities as a political candidate.

“There are some question marks, and some people in the Republican Party have talked about them in conversation,” Remy said. “Because Peter’s so much his own man, it’s difficult to know exactly where he would be on issues important to the business community. Also, I don’t know how closely he would fit with the Republican Party on some social issues.”

Ueberroth declined to be specific on such questions as abortion and school prayer, which are litmus tests with the powerful conservative wing of the California Republican Party.

But he added: “Based on what I read, it’s a real question. On social issues I might not be so attractive to some people.”

Media Pressures

San Francisco public policy consultant Walter McGuire, who worked for Ueberroth in the Olympics, wondered how Ueberroth would adjust to media pressures in a campaign.

“The biggest adjustment in running for statewide office would be the fact that the press travels with you all time time,” McGuire said. “In the Olympics or as baseball commissioner, you meet with the press from time to time and that’s it.

“But in a campaign, all of a sudden you make a statement that you can’t absolutely back up, and there are always reporters around to pick it up.

“You are less in control of the issues in a campaign. I think that would be a big adjustment for Peter.”

Something along the same lines occurred to Ueberroth fan Anita De Frantz, president of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, which was set up with the $250-million surplus from the 1984 Olympics.

“Peter has been able to pursue what he sees as the right solutions without always having to get a lot of other constituencies on board,” De Frantz said. “Politics could be frustrating for him. It’s a different type of challenge, for sure.”

There is also some question of how Ueberroth would adjust to campaign combat.

In the interview with The Times, Ueberroth sounded distinctly nonpartisan at times and was especially complimentary toward Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, who will seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 1990.

“I know John Van de Kamp, and I think highly of him,” Ueberroth said. “I think highly of his wife. We know them socially, and they are friends.”

Would he be up to a partisan battle with Van de Kamp or another Democratic candidate?

‘Doesn’t Bother Me’

“It doesn’t bother me,” he said. “The . . . throwing mud back and forth, I don’t think it is a great sport. I don’t think I like it a lot. But if you are trying to find out if I have the stomach for it, go talk to people who know me. I can tell you I have a pretty good stomach.”

But Remy predicted, “If Peter runs, he will try to stay above the fray.”

As Ueberroth waits to see what Wilson is going to do, a number of influential California Republicans are waiting to see what Ueberroth will do.

Remy had a prediction about that, too:

“One thing about Peter. He will wait until the last possible minute to decide he’s going to run. That’s the way he is.”