Glitches Delay Final Mailings for Levine, Davis

Democratic U.S. Senate hopefuls Mel Levine and Gray Davis got a scare over the weekend when production problems delayed completion of two key slate mailers, which had been scheduled to provide final one-two punches in their campaigns.

Staff members of BAD Campaigns, the preeminent slate-mailer firm in the state, worked around the clock over the weekend and rushed mailers to post offices across Los Angeles County as late as the pre-dawn hours Monday, according to several campaign sources.

About 5 million pieces of mail were scheduled to be mailed by BAD Campaigns statewide, and Levine and Davis each set aside at least $150,000 to pay for the last-minute blitz. It was not known how many pieces of mail were affected by the delays.

“The (BAD) staff people were all over the place, watching the bags go on the (postal) trucks,” said Hope Warschaw, spokeswoman for Levine, whose campaign is relying heavily on the slate mailers to boost his run for the six-year Senate seat. “I am convinced that they will be delivered on time.”

Scott Schaeffer, a spokesman for Davis, who is seeking the two-year seat, said many of the mailers arrived in the San Francisco area last Friday and Saturday, and BAD Campaigns assured Davis on Monday that the remaining materials in Southern California would arrive no later than Monday.

BAD Campaigns, founded by Michael Berman and Carl D’Agostino, is running the Levine and Davis campaigns. Berman and D’Agostino did not return phone calls from The Times, but several political consultants who asked not to be identified said the mailers ran into problems because of computer glitches, printing problems and “extreme deadline pushing.”

Frank Tobe of Below, Tobe & Associates, a computer firm that works with BAD, denied there were any computer glitches.

“There are always problems getting stuff out,” Tobe said. “We always plan to be further along at this point. I have been doing this for 20 years, and we have never been on time in that sense--but we have also never been late (in delivering the slate cards before Election Day).”

Timing of slate card mailings is crucial. Campaigns usually wait until the last minute in hopes of swaying undecided voters and having the greatest impact, but the strategy also carries great risks. If the mailers--in this case, a traditional slate card recommending candidates and a so-called “mailogram” with similar endorsements--do not arrive until Election Day, many voters may never see them before casting their ballots.

“The candidates who are relying on the BAD slates may very well find themselves horribly disappointed,” said Democratic political consultant Joseph Cerrell, who does not represent any candidates appearing on the slate.