Memo Flap Obscures the Real Issue

County Supervisor Susan Golding denies that she was heeding the advice of a campaign pollster when she proposed removing about 2,000 people from the welfare rolls, a proposal the Board of Supervisors enacted but which may prove illegal. She says work on the proposal pre-dated the pollster’s advice.

But, surely, Golding had calculated the effects of the move on her campaign for mayor of San Diego. Most incumbents weigh the political fallout of their actions as elections approach. The memo from the pollster, advising Golding that a welfare-cut proposal would “create a storm of publicity,” just laid bare what usually occurs behind closed doors in political campaigns.

But the pollster’s advice dealt with more than how to generate publicity. Dick Dresner presumed that the welfare cuts are illegal--a matter still being adjudicated. And that, he said, would put Golding in the popular position of standing up to government bureaucracy. It would help defuse anti-incumbent sentiment.

This is just the kind of campaign strategy that rightly feeds cynicism about the political process and fuels anti-incumbent fever. We hope the mayoral candidates will reject such tactics.

But, while the debate over memos and motives shows the underbelly of politics and how this mayoral campaign is being fought, it obscures the real issue: Are the welfare cuts good public policy, given the budget crisis, the costs of litigation, future costs of repaying benefits if the courts overrule the county--and the possible risks to health and life for those who lose benefits? That’s what Susan Golding should be judged on.

So far in the mayoral campaign, political opportunism by several candidates has managed to obscure intelligent debate on policy issues, whether the issue is sewage, jails or hiring police.

It may be naive to think the mayoral candidates will abandon such tactics. But we hope they will. San Diegans should not have to choose a candidate based on whose tactics are worse.

Policy issues are what the mayoral contenders should be judged on. But that will take a concerted effort by all of the candidates.