Illinois’ Braun: Can Cinderella Saga Continue? : After a storybook primary victory, she confronts hard realities of campaign.

When last we left Carol Moseley Braun, she had been crowned by some the political poster child of 1992.

Braun, a black woman and holder of an obscure city office in Chicago, came out of nowhere and overcame a shoestring budget to win the Illinois Democratic Senate primary last March, beating two-term incumbent Alan J. Dixon and a free-spending third candidate.

Overnight, she became a national media star and a potent political symbol. Braun’s victory, it was predicted, would presage a wave of feminist discontent with Congress.

Recent weeks, in fact, have seen several more female candidates win Senate and House primaries in California, Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Many of these women--including Braun--headline a fund-raising dinner tonight in Los Angeles sponsored by the Hollywood Women’s Political Committee.

But winning primaries is one thing, general elections another. And Richard Williamson, the Republican challenger all but ignored in the initial frenzy over Braun, has served notice he’s not about to let her make history as the Senate’s first black female without a hard fight.

Williamson is a former Ronald Reagan Administration aide who served President Bush as a campaign strategist in 1988. Although little known across the state, he won the GOP primary when others ducked what they assumed would be a race against Dixon.

Initially, both Braun, 44, and Williamson, 43, pledged they would run issue-oriented, high-road campaigns. The contest’s tone then promptly went into the toilet.

Williamson quickly attacked, using speeches and advertisements to berate Braun as “just another liberal machine politician,” one who is fond of tax hikes, soft on crime and not shy about using her office to shower supporters with lucrative public contracts. Her political roots, he said, emanate from the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, both controversial black political figures.

Braun shot back, charging Williamson with distorting her record and engaging in subtle race baiting.

Partisan acrimony aside, both candidates have been hamstrung by problems within their own camps.

Some Illinois Democrats privately grumble about Braun missing fund-raisers and not making a great impression on the people she’ll need to bankroll a fall campaign expected to cost $6 million. (Her primary campaign war chest totaled only about $300,000.)

Braun also has been hit by a wave of staff resignations. Three aides departed recently, including one who said she quit after Braun accused her of leaking news items critical of the campaign staff. The aide denied being the tipster.

For his part, Williamson alienated a good slice of his conservative base by backing away from opposition to abortion rights. (Current stand: support for abortion rights, with some reservations.) Led by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, an Illinois resident, some on the GOP right wing explored running an independent Senate candidate. But that notion has cooled.

What gives Williamson his biggest hope is that 62% of the Democratic primary voters did not cast their ballots for Braun. She managed to win mainly because the other two candidates spent millions of dollars and most of their time sullying each other’s reputations.

“She’s legitimately the front-runner right now,” said Alan Gitelson, a professor at Chicago’s Loyola University. “But either one has a chance to win. In four months, things can change radically.”

Senate Showdown

Here are profiles of the two candidates in the Illinois Senate race:

Democratic nominee Carol Moseley Braun

Born: Chicago, Ill., Aug 16, 1947

Education: Graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from University of Illinois’ Chicago campus in 1967. Received law degree, University of Chicago, in ’72.

Career highlights: Served as prosecutor in U.S. attorney’s Chicago office. Elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1978, served 10 years. Elected Cook County Recorder of Deeds in 1988.

Family: Divorced, has one son.

Republican nominee Richard Williamson

Born: Evanston, Ill., May 9, 1949

Education: Majored in religion at Princeton University, graduating in 1971. Received law degree from University of Virginia in 1974.

Career highlights: Served as aide to Rep. Philip M. Crane (R-Ill.). Served two stints as State Department aide during Ronald Reagan Administration.

Family: Married, with three children.

Registered voters in state: 5,864,682

Illinois’ Racial Breakdown Population: 11,430,602 White: 78% Black: 15% Other: 7%