2 Democrats Display Varied Approaches in Race for Governor

John Van de Kamp asked them to think about politics; Dianne Feinstein wanted them to trust their feelings.

And the 250 burly Teamsters who sat in the audience Saturday and weighed the two appeals found themselves smack in the middle of an important preview of the 1990 Democratic Party campaign for governor.

This was the first time in the campaign that Van de Kamp, the attorney general, and Feinstein, former mayor of San Francisco, appeared back to back on a stage before a crucial constituency.

And never have their political differences been so apparent.

Source of Strength

It was not style separating them. Both talked to the Teamsters of Local 70 as friends, in the calm informal tones of a living-room conversation. After all, despite their controversial reputation the Teamsters can provide what a successful Democratic candidate needs most--money and volunteer workers.

And it was not an argument over policy that split Feinstein and Van de Kamp, although some of that is bound to occur as the campaign goes on.

No, their tug-of-war was over an unusually stark political question: Will Democrats like the candidate who drives for the heart and wants to stir feelings? Or do they prefer the one that asks them to add things up in their minds, cut out the nonsense and pursue some plainly stated goals?

Feinstein worked the crowd with a broad brush, suggesting political leaders have not stood back far enough to behold the dimension of what really bothers people. Do you feel safer today than you used to? she demanded.

“For many of us, life isn’t getting any better. . . . What kind of a society are we living in? . . . It’s time to move this state.”

Apparently accounting for the tastes of her audience, she fashioned her call to arms out of salt with an uncharacteristic vulgarity. “Goddamn it, let’s get the job done!”

What California needs is a “problem solver” to restore public faith and tackle the issues of health care, homelessness, transportation, gangs and drugs, she argued.

But Feinstein was not specific about the solutions.

“I don’t have all the answers,” she acknowledged.

That was not all she lacked. Twice in her speech she blamed crime on “our laws getting more and more lenient,” apparently disregarding more than a decade of bipartisan cooperation to pass laws stiffening sentences and clearing a new wave of prison construction to accommodate the backlog of inmates.

Van de Kamp countered that Democrats have had enough “gauzy” impressionists in politics. And that, he said, is why public participation and faith in politicians is so low.

“I’m not going to ask people to trust me, just to take my word for it. Why should they, given the track record of so many of our colleagues in the political world?

“We’re going to ask the people to judge me by what I do, not by what I say.”

Look at the Record

Looking back, Van de Kamp reminded the workers that he jumped in to oppose government receivership of the Teamsters national union. He recalled how he worked arm and arm with them to restore the worker safety Cal-OSHA program which had been disbanded by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian.

Looking ahead, he noted the novelty of his candidacy is that his campaign promises are in writing--in the form of three ballot propositions he wants to qualify for the November, 1990, election. That way, California can vote for him and his platform at the same time.

One initiative would impose new ethics restrictions on politicians and limit service in any one state office to 12 consecutive years. Another would close tax “loopholes” to pay for the war on drugs. Finally, he is supporting a major environmentalist proposal with provisions to safeguard the coast, the air and food.

Warmly Welcomed

The political action seminar of the Teamsters was not for the purposes of endorsing either candidate. Both contenders were warmly received, as was state Democratic Party chairman Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., the former governor.

Brown told the crowd that campaign speeches that were not backed up by organization were so much “political cellophane wrapped around powerlessness.”

It was an unusually fired-up Brown that addressed the Teamsters. Yes, he said when asked, he harbors ambition to move up politically. And yes, he continued, he is increasingly ready to debate those critics of his two-term administration as governor, from 1974 to 1982.

Take highways, for instance. Brown noted he is remembered for challenging the highway culture. Republicans, including his successor Deukmejian, still mock Brown.

“Hell, I built more freeways in my worst year than he has in his best,” Brown snapped. “And I wasn’t even trying.”