Carter Stays Off the Stump : Party: It wasn’t politics as usual when he was in the White House, and it still isn’t, the guest of honor demonstrated at an alumni reunion.

The answer is no. Definitely no.

The person giving it was former President Jimmy Carter. He was at the first “meeting” of the California Carter-Mondale Alumni Assn. Sunday evening, a cocktail party where 100 campaign and White House veterans mingled on the brick patio at the Westside home of Dr. Roger Lewis and Hope Boonshaft-Lewis.

When an out-of-office politician meets with his most loyal supporters, he’s usually testing the waters.

This isn’t the case with Carter, who was in Los Angeles for a speaking engagement. “We talked about who would run,” said early Carter supporter Roz Wyman. “He said ‘Tell me who you like. Let me know.’ ”

Although it wasn’t a political event, the party did have an underlying motive beyond renewing old friendships. “This was a chance to bring hard-core supporters together again and show them what the man is doing,” said Boonshaft-Lewis, who was director of community relations in the White House. “To show them what’s important to him. And if it’s important to you too, maybe you could help.”

What’s important to the former President is the Carter Center in Atlanta, especially its work in human rights, resolution of international conflicts and the worldwide immunization of children. Although there was no pitch for money, Carter did make a moving 15-minute speech on the center’s accomplishments.

What was important for the guests was a chance to reacquaint themselves with the man in whose service “most of us had the high point of our lives,” said Ed Sanders, who was senior adviser on the Middle East in the Carter White House.

The most frequently heard remark at the party involved comparing Carter favorably to other former Presidents. “He’s giving something back,” Wyman said.

In a sense the party’s ambience reflected Carter’s non-imperial presidency. He arrived with a Secret Service escort but without much fanfare. He circulated through the crowd easily and, although he was the center of attention, it wasn’t as though the party stopped and everyone crowded around.

“He was never highfalutin’,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.

Carter hugged most of the people he knew well, occasionally saying “I love you” as they parted. Aside from politics, the most common subject of conversation was grandchildren.

Among those on hand were former campaign and White House staffers, including fund-raiser Bruce Corwin, financier Grover McKean, media adviser Jerry Rafshoon, field coordinator Henry Lozano, congressional liaison Robert Russell, former Ambassador Rodney Kennedy-Minott, former Assemblyman Mike Roos and former Los Angeles City Councilman David Cunningham.

The crowd was definitely grass roots. There was only one celebrity--Carol Channing--and none of the local show-biz heavy-hitters. “Hollywood didn’t support Carter,” one guest said. “It wasn’t like Gary Hart.”