POLITICS GOVERNOR’S RACE : Wilson Is Caught in Geographic Bind

One foot in Washington, one in California.

That’s the situation these days for Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson, who said Thursday that his Washington responsibilities have put him at a disadvantage in the 1990 governor’s race.

And there was plenty of evidence right at hand.

Wilson had just held a press conference to try to demonstrate his leadership on the issue of clean air.

Thursday being a smoggy day, his staff hoped to lure television cameras by putting the senator on the 60th floor of a Los Angeles skyscraper.

The view was murky. But only one TV camera showed up; a handful of reporters asked a few questions and bailed out.

Heading back down to the street in an express elevator, the unflappable Wilson shrugged and said, “There’ll be another opportunity tomorrow.”

One problem was that the senator had already said pretty much the same thing about the clean air issue last week at a Washington press conference.

He strongly objects to a bill sponsored by Democratic Reps. John D. Dingell of Michigan and Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles that would take away the right of states to impose their own standards on off-road engines, such as farm machinery and oil well pumps.

The congressmen want the federal Environmental Protection Agency to enforce those standards.

Wilson argues that California’s Air Resources Board and South Coast Air Quality Management District will do a better job helping Southern California to greatly reduce noxious smog by the year 2009.

Full of terms like “particulates” and “tonnage of pollutants,” it’s a lively argument among a handful of legislators and air-quality experts.

But it doesn’t generate much heat in the governor’s race.

Meanwhile, one of Wilson’s potential gubernatorial opponents, Democratic Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, got front-page headlines this week when he linked his candidacy with a sweeping environmental initiative proposed for the November, 1990, ballot.

That follows a run of headlines in August over a crime initiative that Wilson is sponsoring, one that Van de Kamp has warned would endanger the right to privacy--and perhaps to abortion--in California.

Some Wilson advisers insist they got the better of that one.

But Wilson’s close friend, Vigo (Chip) Nielsen, state GOP legal counsel, admitted recently at a political conference in San Francisco, “Let’s face it, John Van de Kamp had one hell of a summer.”

Even Wilson’s political opponents concede that he is conscientious, but the current situation is making some Wilson supporters wonder whether his passion for the work of the Senate could actually hamper his effort to be elected governor.

Wilson adviser Otto Bos counters, “Look, Pete is out here every weekend.”

And George Gorton, manager of Wilson’s gubernatorial campaign, said Thursday: “We think we’re the ones who are going strong. Pete has taken on the issue of crack babies and he’s proposed doing away with congressional newsletters and putting the money into the drug fight.

“That’s strong. Van de Kamp is off talking about a bunch of initiatives. That’s weak.”

But Wilson himself seemed more circumspect as he left the air-quality press conference in downtown Los Angeles.

“Being out here is a distinct advantage for Van de Kamp . . . and we’ve got to work hard to offset it,” he said.