CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS U.S. SENATE : Democrats Battle for the Feminist Vote : Politics: Boxer’s supporters say no man can represent a woman’s view as well as a woman. Davis hopes to defeat Feinstein in primary with his record on women’s issues.

Just in case voters are being lulled by those men candidates for the U.S. Senate saying how strong they are on women’s issues, a group of women activists supporting Rep. Barbara Boxer said Tuesday there is a difference.

They say everything else being equal, no man can ever represent a woman’s point of view as well as another woman, particularly in defense of abortion rights.

The issue is a touchy one for the candidates seeking California’s two U.S. Senate seats this year. Boxer is running for one of the seats and another strong woman candidate, Dianne Feinstein, is running for the other. With only two women in the U.S. Senate, national feminist groups are supporting both women.

Lined up against Boxer and Feinstein are liberal Democratic men who have supported feminist causes over the years, and are vigorously competing for women’s votes.

Both of Boxer’s opponents in the June 2 Democratic primary--Rep. Mel Levine and Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy--boast strong feminist credentials. Levine is running a television ad featuring endorsements from astronaut Sally Ride and other prominent women.

In the race for the other Senate seat, Democratic state Controller Gray Davis hopes to defeat Feinstein in part by persuading voters that he is “the best feminist in the race” on the basis of his past support for women’s issues.

Davis bristled Tuesday at the assertion that a woman necessarily can better represent a women’s views on key issues such as abortion rights. “Voters are going to make their choice based not on a chromosome count but on your courage and your heart,” he said.

But Boxer and her supporters, on the eve of opening arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in an important abortion case, believe there should be no dispute. They argued Tuesday that liberal men in the Senate let them down in the confirmation fight over Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and cannot be counted on to put in the extra measure of sacrifice and energy a woman would to defend abortion rights.

“The U.S. Senate needs a dose of reality, and that dose comes in this package,” Boxer said, flanked by about a dozen women representing, among others, The Fund for A Feminist Majority, the Hollywood Women’s Political Committee, the National Organization for Women and the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Jane Danowitz, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Women’s Campaign Fund, said that women no longer trust liberals who point to a “good” voting record on issues.

“The definition of pro-choice has changed. We are no longer just talking about people who have good voting records. We are talking about people who are going to stand up and lead the charge,” Danowitz said.

Danowitz said she researched votes by McCarthy and Levine when they served in the state Legislature during the 1970s and 1980s and pointed out votes in which they supported restrictions on abortions or did not vote at all on issues of key importance to women.

Danowitz said that McCarthy and Levine “have records on choice that are filled with oopses and back flips and waivers and waffles, misses and just plain bad votes.”

Hope Warshaw, a Levine aide, said that as a congressman Levine had a “better” record on effectiveness for women’s issues than Boxer. “No one has ever questioned his record or commitment on choice. Planned Parenthood and abortion clinics came to him to sponsor legislation that would guarantee freedom of access to abortion clinics.”

Roy Behr, McCarthy’s campaign manager, noted that McCarthy had been endorsed by the California Abortion Rights Action League in 1982, 1986, 1988 and 1990.

After the news conference, Danowitz challenged Davis’ claim that he was a better feminist than Feinstein. She said Feinstein has been active in feminist causes for years. “There is no way that Gray Davis is a better feminist than Dianne Feinstein,” she said.

Davis, in a telephone interview, said that as an assemblyman he “put our legislative resources at the disposal of women’s groups. Since then I sued the Pacific Union Club because it denied access to women and minorities. I am the first and only constitutional officer to open a day care center for employees, and my top aide is a woman. Dianne cannot match that record.”

One group of activists, Los Angeles-based Women For:, supports Boxer, but also is backing Davis. Lucy Bava, who appeared with Boxer, said, “We consider Davis the best feminist in that race,” but conceded that hers might be the only significant feminist group supporting one of the men.

Listening in, Jane Hasler Henick, vice president of the National Women’s Political Caucus of California, said: “We don’t see that Gray Davis can be a better feminist because he is not a woman. We feel that a woman is a person who can understand and take to heart this pro-choice issue and not just treat it as another issue. A man cannot speak for a woman in Congress.”