A Look at the Ads

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Dianne Feinstein is airing television ads that attack her opponent for the two-year Senate seat, Republican Sen. John Seymour, as “a Washington big spender.” The Feinstein campaign did not disclose how long the ad would run or how much it cost.

THE AD: The text of the ad runs on the television screen against a murky gray backdrop of newspaper clippings and photos of Seymour, who was appointed to the post in January, 1991, by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. The photos include shots of Seymour with Wilson and former President Ronald Reagan.

As the text unfolds on the screen, an announcer says: “How much do you know about Sen. John Seymour? As state senator, Seymour voted to raise his own pay four times and to deregulate savings and loans. As a real estate broker, Seymour’s business was sued 18 times for fraud, deception or breach of contract. Seymour’s a Washington big spender whose personal staff is larger than any other senator’s and Seymour spent $1.1 million of taxpayer dollars to send out 6 million pieces of junk mail. We can’t afford to elect John Seymour senator.”

THE ANALYSIS: In a year of presumed anti-incumbent wrath, both candidates are trying to portray themselves as Washington outsiders when in fact both are veterans of California politics and government--Feinstein for 18 years as a San Francisco county supervisor and mayor and Seymour as Anaheim mayor, state senator and now U.S. senator. Seymour has tried to label Feinstein as a “tax-and-spend” liberal Democrat. This ad seeks to convince viewers and voters that Seymour is a “pol” as well.

Seymour’s campaign staff, in responding to the ad, disputed the size of his staff, saying that he has 60 staff members, compared with 61 for retiring Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and 71 for Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.). Seymour’s staff said he is a relatively modest spender compared with Senate colleagues, particularly considering the size of California’s population. The Feinstein campaign said it based its claim on a report by the secretary of the Senate for the year ending last March 31 that showed Seymour with 71 aides as of March, more than any other senator. The report also said the total Seymour payroll of $2.1 million was the Senate’s largest.

Seymour acknowledged voting to raise legislators’ pay four times while in the Legislature, but said the raise was earned because the state budget was balanced (though under the state Constitution it must be balanced). Feinstein, the response said, “allowed” her salary as mayor to double while leaving her successor “a mountain of debt” to clean up. Technically, Feinstein left office with a balanced budget. Her successor, who was not a political supporter of hers, claimed he inherited a deficit.

Seymour was sued a number of times for alleged fraudulent practices while a real estate broker, but he said that no judgments were levied against him and that the total of out-of-court settlements he had to pay was less than $50,000.