CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS ’92 : CAMPAIGN JOURNAL : Levine Meets the People--in Sister’s Back Yard

It was just another pleasant evening in Beverly Hills and a hundred or so friends dropped by the house on Canon Drive to say hi to Mel Levine and wish him well.

They came by invitation and dropped $1,000 each into Levine’s campaign money machine as a token of appreciation for all his work in Sacramento and Washington the last 15 years and for the work they hope he will do in the U.S. Senate.

Tally up another $100,000 to add to the $4 million-plus Levine has raised to buy the television ads his strategists believe will get him the Democratic nomination next Tuesday virtually without campaigning among the people of California.

Thursday’s gathering at the home of Dena and Irv Schechter, Levine’s sister and brother-in-law, was like extended family. You know . . . Steven Spielberg, Sally Field, Billy Crystal and a few others from show biz, the law, business and politics.

Goldie Hawn could not make it: no getting around those shooting schedules. Spielberg was late: parents’ night at school. The Levine and Schechter kids chased each other around stainless steel art forms in the expansive back yard. The grown-ups sipped white wine or Evian and nibbled little asparagus goodies and barbecued chicken on a stick.

In the waning days of a campaign that unofficially began two years ago, this was about as close to the voting public as Levine would get.

The Levine press office had tantalized reporters in recent days with hints of a possible public event. On Thursday it appeared this would be it and the media was admitted--identifiable as the only ones wearing name tags.

Levine was dubbed “the stealth candidate” months ago before he began making an occasional appearance in public. Even so, he has risen in the opinion polls from about 7% just two months ago (before television ads) into a virtual tie with his two better-known opponents (after ads started).

The campaign style reflects Levine’s role as junior partner in the Westside-based political organization of Reps. Henry A. Waxman and Howard L. Berman. His campaign is being run by the Michael Berman-Carl D’Agostino consulting firm, BAD Campaigns, the political operations arm of Waxman-Berman.

The Berman-D’Agostino style is to keep the candidate under wraps and on the telephone dialing for dollars and then, late in the campaign, pump the money into television and mailings. They do not believe the news media are relevant in reaching voters so they shun traditional events that are attended by people but primarily designed to attract reporters.

At the Schechters’, Levine press aide Hope Warschaw noted with alarm that four or five reporters were clustered around Levine and producer Spielberg with their notebooks and tape recorders. It was a cordial, casual conversation in which Spielberg was relating why he admired Levine so much.

Warschaw rushed up and exclaimed to the reporters, “He’s a private citizen.” Then to Spielberg and Levine, she said, “We’ll get them out of here.”

Levine told Spielberg it was his call. Levine always has been amenable to press interviews. Spielberg shrugged and quietly noted that he had probably said all that needed to be said.

Earlier, Levine thanked his guests and talked briefly about his campaign.

“This is fabulous. This is just fabulous,” Levine said after being introduced by Dena Schechter--whom he noted is his younger sister. But Levine is such a boyish-looking 48 that he still looks like everyone’s younger brother.

“I was very lucky when I was born to have picked such a great family to be born to,” Levine cracked.

While Levine was born into wealth, he “was no pampered prep-schooler,” according to one magazine profile. But his political birth was silver-spoon stuff. His association with Waxman and the Bermans opened doors for him on the way to Sacramento and brought about the creation of a 27th Congressional District tailored for him to win in 1982. The loyalty and generosity of his Westside-Jewish-liberal base gave him the independence to pursue serious subjects in Washington without fear of losing his seat.

In fact, Levine has been a respected and admired member of Congress, described this way the authoritative Almanac of American Politics: “Like Berman and Waxman, Levine is a smart political operator who also cares about issues and is a resourceful and productive legislator.”

In 1991, the onetime Vietnam War protester voted to support President Bush’s attack on Iraq. After the Los Angeles riots, Levine ran tough law-and-order television ads blaming the violence on a “failure of political leadership.” In Thursday’s talk to his guests, he said too many Democrats talk tough but do little about crime and violence. And too often, they view business as the enemy, he said.

Some of his friends were surprised and disappointed by what they see as a shift rightward to appeal to voters statewide. And privately, they deplore the manner in which BAD Campaigns isolated Levine from the public. That’s not their friend Mel, they sad.

In his back-yard speech, Levine’s words had the ring of an upbeat candidate nearing the end of an exhausting but uplifting campaign, enthused by the supportive reactions of crowds he had met in city after city.

“This turnout reflects the type of enthusiasm and support that we’ve been pulling together as this campaign has grown, the support has grown, the momentum has grown,” Levine said. The message, he added, “has been clearly resonating with voters throughout this state. “

It sounded almost as if Mel Levine had been campaigning in public.