‘92 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION : Women Fill Room at the Top of California Party Hierarchy : Leadership: Problems close to home keep several key officials away from convention. Prominent new faces may signal a changing of the guard.

Mayor Tom Bradley stayed home to continue the struggle to help rebuild post-riot Los Angeles.

California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and state Senate leader David A. Roberti remained tied up in Sacramento, wrestling with their so-far futile attempt to resolve the state budget crisis.

Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, licking his wounds after a lopsided U.S. Senate primary loss to Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Greenbrae), skipped the Democratic National Convention because he had no role at it. Alan Cranston didn’t have a role either, and the state’s lame-duck U.S. senator was barely visible during convention proceedings this week.

The absence of these prominent officials created a void that a group of California women on the ascent were all too eager to fill. Thus, analysts say, the Democratic Convention produced yet another chapter in the changing of the California political guard.

“I think politics-as-usual is changing,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who spent much of the week resisting overtures about next year’s mayoral race in Los Angeles. “(The state’s leaders) should be here providing leadership, but we are doing quite well without them, thank you. I can’t tell you anyone in the delegation who has come up to me and said they miss any of them.”

The weeklong convention provided a launching pad for U.S. Senate candidates Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to boost their national profile and campaign coffers. It catapulted three of the state’s leading women--state Treasurer Kathleen Brown and Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco)--into the national limelight. And it gave eight Democratic candidates for the House an invaluable opportunity to network with party officials and national women’s groups.

“It’s a watershed that we’re seeing,” said Larry Berg, a political scientist at USC. “The fact is that (California women) are very clearly moving into positions of high visibility and authority in the Democratic Party. What better place than the convention to showcase it.”

However, the number of missing California officials could well reflect the decreasing importance of national conventions.

“The horizon for a lot of California is right within its own state,” said Bruce Cain, associate director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. “Our problems are so pressing right now that few worry about the Democratic Convention.”

Politically, state leaders Willie Brown and Roberti had no choice but to stay in Sacramento and continue grappling with the state budget, their colleagues said.

Among the state officials who attended the convention were Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and Kathleen Brown. All said they were prepared to fly back to California the moment the budget negotiations showed signs of progressing. It never happened.

McCarthy never seriously considered coming to New York, said Roy Behr, his former campaign manager. “There’s no role for him,” Behr said. “He’s been at enough conventions.”

Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica), the other loser to Boxer in the Democratic primary to fill Cranston’s seat, opted to take his children to baseball’s All-Star Game in San Diego on Tuesday, a Levine aide said.

Cranston received a sustained standing ovation from the California delegation after state party Chairman Phil Angelides said he would be remembered as “the greatest U.S. senator from California.” Disgraced and reprimanded following his involvement in the “Keating Five” savings and loan scandal, Cranston was given virtually no role at the convention.

Bradley was neither heard from or talked about at the convention. “The mayor is leading the efforts to rebuild the city,” said Bradley spokesman Bill Chandler. “With continuing questions about both the state budget and the recovery process, the mayor felt it was wise to stay in Los Angeles,” he said.

While Bradley has not indicated whether he intends to seek reelection, others took advantage of the convention setting to enhance their potential candidacies.

“It’s a rare opportunity to see people in person who are the movers and shakers in California,” said City Councilman Michael Woo.

Said Councilman Richard Alatorre: “I’m moving with the right people.”

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), who filed papers this week to run for mayor, said by telephone from Sacramento: “I sense this is a real turning point (for Democrats), and I would have liked to be part of it. My job was to solve this budget problem.”

Whatever political influence was missing from this year’s California contingent is certain to be restored by women who are positioned to lead the delegation into future conventions, Pelosi said.

As chair of the Democratic platform committee, Pelosi was one of several California women who enjoyed featured roles at the convention. Waters, who seconded the presidential nomination of Bill Clinton, was in high demand as she delivered several rousing speeches throughout the week.

Times staff writers Alan C. Miller and Tracy Wilkinson contributed to this story.