Congressman Departs From Genteel Style in Battling McClintock

Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) dropped his gentlemanly stance toward Republican rival Tom McClintock on Monday night, lashing out at the assemblyman as “a zero, a cipher and a pariah” as their tossup race in the 24th Congressional District enters its final week.

Beilenson’s attack, before 450 applauding supporters at a Calabasas fund-raising dinner, was an abrupt departure from his previously genteel style in the campaign, which featured a lengthy series of debates between the two men that were remarkably free of personal invective.

Beilenson launched his attack after saying the race was “too close to call” and urged supporters to walk precincts and help deliver pro-Beilenson voters to the polls on Election Day.

The fund-raiser at the Sagebrush Cantina featured testimonials to Beilenson by actors Cybill Shepherd and Leonard Nimoy.

It also marked the liberal congressman’s 60th birthday.

Saying he felt like he had “aged about 10 years over the last eight to 10 months,” Beilenson accused McClintock, a conservative from Thousand Oaks, of sending to voters in a recent mass-mailing brochures that Beilenson called “terribly offensive.”

“We’re not going to take it lying down, like Mr. Dukakis,” Beilenson said, referring to the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee who was criticized for not responding strongly enough to attacks by George Bush. “We’re going to hit back.”

Beilenson did not specify what the mailers said, but an aide said Tuesday that McClintock’s mail has generally accused Beilenson of being a standard-issue liberal who usually votes for tax increases.

The aide said Beilenson has a long record as a fiscal conservative.

At the fund-raiser, Beilenson described himself as a “sensible, respectable and effective member of Congress who gets along well with Republicans as well as Democrats.”

He charged that McClintock “can’t get along with members of his own party in Sacramento”--an apparent reference to McClintock’s vocal opposition to tax increases approved by GOP Gov. Pete Wilson last year.

Beilenson further characterized McClintock as “a zero, a cipher and a pariah who would not be able to represent us well in this district.”

McClintock, in an interview, said he would not “dignify that rhetoric.”

“Obviously, he’s getting desperate,” the assemblyman said.