‘92 REPUBLICAN CONVENTION : Senate Candidates Back Family Values : Traditions: Seymour excludes gays, Herschensohn omits participants in rioting from the GOP definition.

The Republican duo trying to win California’s two seats in the U.S. Senate jumped on the “family values” bandwagon Thursday, wholeheartedly embracing the amorphous but volatile issue despite concerns that it could alienate some voters.

Sen. John Seymour, who is running against Democrat Dianne Feinstein, struggled to define the family values concept. By way of example, he said that First Lady Barbara Bush personifies what family values means to him, while gay couples with children clearly do not.

“A gay couple with a child, can they have family values? I don’t think that fits the definition,” he told reporters at the Republican Convention here.

Bruce Herschensohn, who is running against Rep. Barbara Boxer for the seat being given up by Sen. Alan Cranston, also happily embraced the issue. “What we are saying is this is our value. This is a tradition that is terribly important and should take precedence,” said Herschensohn, a radio and television commentator before entering the Senate race.

Seymour conceded that Republicans may lose voters who “don’t feel welcome” in the party if they don’t match the GOP definition of “family.” But he insisted that the nuclear family--as represented here by the 22 children and grandchildren who joined George and Barbara Bush on the podium Wednesday night at the conclusion of the First Lady’s speech--is in keeping with “mainstream California.”

Herschensohn, like Seymour, seemed to have a clear sense of the kind of people who personify family values. As an example of those who fail to fit the definition, he cited the participants in the Los Angeles riots.

“What happened to these kids? Why don’t they have a sense of values? Are they born that way? Probably not, but they are obviously not getting values from school, they probably aren’t going to a religious institution . . , a church or synagogue, or whatever, and they obviously are not getting it at home,” Herschensohn said. “There seemed to be no conscience. And that is part of the result of a lessening of family values.”

The emphasis on family values seemed to resonate with many Republicans here, whether conveyed through the rhetoric of leaders of the religious right or through Barbara Bush’s convention address.

But the issue may play differently in California, a state rich in diverse lifestyles. The large blocs of voters representing gays, single mothers, working women, divorced parents and members of dysfunctional families and others who may not fit the mold of the First Family.

Herschensohn, a bachelor who was divorced more than 20 years ago, argued that the family values concept is broad enough to appeal to many kinds of voters. He said that he does not feel at all excluded after listening to family values speeches by the First Lady, Marilyn Quayle, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and others Wednesday night.

“I was sitting there trying not to get too emotional, because I just thought it was absolutely wonderful. . . . It was about as Americanesque as you can get,” he said.

Seymour and Herschensohn both said that the convention has given a boost to their Senate campaigns, even though they got only three minutes to speak to the convention at the close of the lightly attended opening session Monday morning.

The candidates said that they did not engage in any serious fund raising during the convention, although both acknowledged that they had spent a considerable amount of time courting business and corporate leaders who they believe will write them checks later in the campaign.