CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / U.S. SENATE : Boxer, Herschensohn Clash in Fiery Debate : Politics: Candidates exchange tough charges and opposing views that bring howls from the audience in their third and final meeting.

Barbara Boxer and Bruce Herschensohn exchanged tough charges and diametrically opposed viewpoints Wednesday in the final and most raucous debate of their narrowing race for the U.S. Senate.

Audience reaction rose to such a crescendo by the end of the 90-minute encounter that Boxer’s closing statement was drowned out by angry Herschensohn supporters demanding answers to charges that she has abused congressional perks.

Boxer, a five-term congresswoman from Marin County, did not respond specifically to Herschensohn’s attack, saying later that she preferred to stick to the issues. Her aides accused the Herschensohn camp of orchestrating a deliberate campaign to disrupt Boxer’s appearances.

The debate was sponsored by the voter-education branch of the American Assn. of Retired Persons and packed 1,000 people--many of them campaign partisans--into a Manhattan Beach hotel ballroom.

As in their two previous meetings, Democrat Boxer and Republican Herschensohn offered stark contrasts in outlining their key positions. Some of the greatest differences were on defense, military spending and abortion.

Boxer described her plan to cut military spending by making allies in Europe and Asia pay for their own defense and by eliminating waste. The money, she said, would be reinvested in a broad range of domestic programs, including Head Start and national infrastructure.

Herschensohn countered that it would be dangerous to reduce the nation’s military budget even though the Cold War has ended.

“You do not burn down the fire station after it’s put out the fire,” he said.

The joint appearance came as polls show Boxer’s once-commanding lead diminish. This week, the Field Poll gave her an 11-point edge over Herschensohn, cut in half during the last month. The two are competing for the six-year seat being relinquished by retiring Sen. Alan Cranston.

The fireworks in Wednesday’s forum came early. In his opening statement, Herschensohn ignored the moderator’s request that he outline his qualifications and background, choosing instead to launch the opening salvo in what became an unrelenting assault on Boxer’s character and job performance.

Ticking off a laundry list of transgressions, he accused Boxer of having “played hooky” in Congress by posting last term the third-worst attendance record in the 435-member House of Representatives. He blasted her for approving a 40% congressional pay raise while “your employer, the taxpayers, were having severe economic burdens.” And he criticized the cost of her office staff payroll, which is the third-highest in the House.

“I don’t believe that there is an employer in the United States of America that would allow the kinds of practices that have taken place with the employees, I mean you and some others in the Congress,” he said.

In her opening comments, Boxer also went on the offensive, ignoring the details of Herschensohn’s allegations and focusing instead on his campaign tactics.

“I call these tactics the ‘Great Bruce Herschensohn Cover-Up’ because it is an attack that is launched to conceal who he really is,” Boxer said.

She accused him of reneging on his pledge to wage a positive campaign, portrayed his television commercials as “vicious personal attack ads” and charged that his proposed flat-tax plan would “cost the taxpayers of this state a fortune.”

In a surprise turn, she went on to characterize Herschensohn as a “Washington political operative,” a reference to his work during the 1960s and 1970s for the U.S. Information Agency and the Nixon White House.

“The taxpayers even sent him on a trip to Russia in 1969,” she said as the crowd howled. “He went to a film festival in Russia, and I just hope for your sake, Bruce, that Bob Dornan doesn’t find out because he might endorse me because I didn’t go to Russia in 1969.”

Later, in a news conference, Boxer responded to Herschensohn’s allegations about her record, but defended her decision not to do so during the debate--even though it led to rowdy outbursts from her rival’s supporters.

“I believe this is a race about very crucial issues facing the people,” Boxer said. “When you have two minutes to respond, it is my view that I want to get those issues out there.”

Herschensohn, a former television commentator whom Boxer has characterized as a professional debater, has challenged Boxer to more than 100 debates since the June primary. He used Wednesday’s appearance to call for yet another debate--this one to be broadcast statewide on Oct. 24--but Boxer ignored the challenge. Later, she said three debates were enough.

In Wednesday’s debate, which will be televised on cable channels, the two candidates also clashed on abortion rights. Boxer supports abortion rights; Herschensohn is against abortion rights and wants to see Roe vs. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide, overturned.

And they disagreed on the role of women in the military. Boxer advocated equal access; Herschensohn strongly opposed allowing women in combat because “the mission is to win, not bring about social change.”

Asked in a later news conference to explain his objection to women in combat, Herschensohn said male soldiers would “feel differently” next to a woman in a dangerous situation than they would next to a man.

“I am saying something that is human nature,” he told reporters. “If a man in this room doesn’t understand it, you’re beyond me.”