Campaign Dateline : A weekly window on the 1992 elections : Post Riots, Candidates Ask: To Tour or Not to Tour?

In the wake of the Los Angeles riots, state and national candidates were quick to make inquiries about touring devastated areas. Some were less successful than others.

Former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., for example, made a pair of phone calls to First African Methodist Episcopal Church pastor Cecil L. Murray to determine the best time to visit the church, which had become a central gathering spot and disaster relief site.

Both times, the Democratic presidential candidate proceeded to debate with himself on the phone whether he should come when other public officials were there or arrive later. And both times, Brown launched into long monologues that sounded like his stump campaign speech. During the second call, a noticeably fidgety Murray looked out the window and eyed the Rev. Jesse Jackson alighting from a car.

“Jerry,” said the pastor, “your vice president has just arrived. I’ve got to go.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Seymour, meanwhile, phoned the office of Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Woo, a Democrat, about touring Woo’s riot-ravaged Hollywood council district. Woo, who hosted Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton’s walking tour of riot-ravaged Koreatown, says he had a succinct answer for Seymour: “I gave him my permission.”

THE CALIFORNIA SCENE Will riots register?: In Los Angeles County, some observers believe the devastating riots could help boost voter turnout.

Because of the devastation, state officials extended the registration deadline for the June primary for four days, through last Friday. And politicians, particularly those in South Los Angeles, were making a last-ditch effort to channel voter anger toward the ballot box.

“We’ve been registering voters in front of our headquarters all day, every day, nonstop,” reported an aide to state Sen. Diane Watson, who is running for a county supervisor’s post.

State Democratic Party political director Bob Mulholland calls June voter turnout “the $64,000 question.”

“Those whose homes were displaced are less likely to vote,” he said. “But on the other hand, the system allows people to vote, and that’s where they can take their anger out.”

Reality check?: In a recent Los Angeles Times Poll, 2% of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a Senate candidate who bounced checks at the House bank.

What a joker: Among those mailed a personalized membership card to the “John Seymour U.S. Senate Club”--Claremont Graduate School government professor Bill Allen, one of Seymour’s opponents in the June Republican primary.

Unconventional: So where did Jerry Brown supporters from the 24th Congressional District select their national convention delegates? The ethereal Inn of the Seventh Ray restaurant in Topanga Canyon, natch.

The Times Poll Views from the Voters These results are from the Los Angeles Times Poll, taken April 23-26, before the Los Angeles riots. The poll was conducted among 1,395 registered voters statewide, including 619 registered Democrats and 526 Republicans. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent points. Where do you get your information about politics and political campaigns? Newspapers: 69% TV News Broadcasts: 61% Talking to Friends: 17% Magazine Articles: 16% Radio News Broadcasts: 15% Contact By Mail: 3% Ads In Newspapers: 1% TV Commercials: 1% Contact By Telephone: * Radio Commercials: * What issues or problems would you like people running for state and national office to discuss? Jobs / Unemployment: 21% Education: 18% Economy: 16% Health Care: 13% Budget: 12% Crime: 12% Environment / Pollution: 10% Taxes: 9% Homelessness: 8% Welfare: 8% Abortion: 5% Business Leaving State: 5% Business Conditions: 3% Gangs: 3% Inflation / Cost of Living: 3% Immigrants / Overpopulation: 2% Morals / Family Values: 2% Civil Rights / Fairness: 1% Women’s Issues: 1% Other: 12% Don’t Know: 4%* Results not enough to register among all responses.

THE NATIONAL SCENE Clinton’s Choice for VP--A Member of Senior Class?

As some Democratic insiders see it, the safest assumption to make about Bill Clinton’s choice of a running mate is that he or she will be a decidedly senior statesperson whose advanced years would make a 1996 presidential bid unlikely. The reasoning is that if Clinton loses his anticipated challenge to President Bush this fall, he hopes to come close enough to start out as the front-runner in the ’96 race and has no interest in aiding a potential rival. Among those fitting the golden-years mold are Illinois Sen. Paul Simon, 63; New York Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan, 65, and Pennsylvania Sen. Harris Wofford, 66. All three share another asset: Each carries clout in a state Clinton almost has to win to beat Bush.

Tale of the tape: Rep. Joe Kolter (D-Pa.) became the sixth House member to lose a primary, but his own indiscretion rather than anti-incumbent fervor probably was to blame. Kolter, 66, was hurt by the publication of a taped conversation in which he termed himself a “political whore” who would do anything to get reelected. His district’s voters removed that temptation from his path.

EXIT LINE

“It was nice but his hands were cold. They were just like a big old ice cube.”

--Fifth-grader Lena Sewell’s reaction to meeting President Bush as he toured a youth club in riot-ravaged South Los Angeles. Outside, an angry crowd protested the visit of the President, whose only new financial proposal was a $19-million anti-crime, anti-poverty grant.

California Dateline appears every Monday.