ELECTIONS / 24TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT : Beilenson, McClintock Go on Attack in Debate

Tom McClintock, the conservative Republican state assemblyman attempting to unseat Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles), had barely said hello before he laid into Beilenson for what he called a “campaign of character assassination.”

It was the first of several sharp attacks both congressional candidates made before the Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks on Thursday. Their 30-minute debate, in which they answered questions from the audience, reflected the increasingly bitter tone of what is considered a close election.

The 24th Congressional District was redrawn to include most of Thousand Oaks, Malibu and portions of the San Fernando Valley.

The two have faced off several times, but most debates have been non-confrontational discussions of their ideological differences. Only in the past few days has the race taken on a sharper and more personal edge.

McClintock’s anger stemmed from a Beilenson campaign brochure charging that McClintock “continues to accept honorariums.” California voters banned the practice of accepting speaking fees from special interests in 1990.

He accused Beilenson of spreading a lie on the eve of the election.

“Mr. Beilenson, I do not break the law and I don’t falsely accuse my opponent of doing so,” McClintock said while staring at Beilenson.

Beilenson said he regretted that the letter contained a sentence that “apparently was wrong” but added, “I do not back off one moment from the thrust of that letter.”

The brochure, mailed to voters, criticized McClintock for accepting contributions from political action committees, or PACs.

Beilenson is one of the few members of Congress who do not accept PAC funds and has repeatedly attacked McClintock for doing do.

McClintock replied, “My people can’t afford to write large checks, so they pool their money in PACs.”

While McClintock attempted to paint Beilenson as a big-spending liberal, Beilenson called McClintock an “ideologue at the fringe.” He said McClintock, who has been in the Assembly since 1982, is too confrontational to be an effective congressman and can’t get along with members of his own party.

“To be kind about it, (McClintock) has not been a terribly effective person in Sacramento in terms of problem solving,” Beilenson said.

McClintock is known for his willingness to battle GOP leaders, including the last two Republican governors. Earlier this year, he said Gov. Pete Wilson’s budget was “based on literally absurd revenue projections.”

“I stand by my principles, not by my party leaders,” McClintock said. He said it is time to turn out incumbents such as Beilenson, who has spent 16 years in Congress.

“If we can’t turn this Congress around in a district like ours, in times like these, against an incumbent like this, then when will we ever take back our Congress? When will we ever take back our nation?” McClintock asked.

Judy St. John, one of the few women at the meeting, asked about abortion and gun control--two issues on which the candidates take starkly opposing stands.

As a state senator in 1967, Beilenson wrote the law that greatly expanded legal abortion in California. He said he opposes a waiting period for abortions or a requirement that children notify their parents of an abortion.

McClintock opposes abortion but said it should not be a crime. He said the federal government should neither fund nor condone abortion.

Beilenson said he favors a waiting period for gun purchases and a ban on semiautomatic weapons. McClintock is against both.

“He would make an honest, law-abiding citizen wait five to seven days to buy a gun in the middle of a riot, but he wouldn’t make a girl wait one day for an abortion,” McClintock said of his opponent.

In response to another question, Beilenson said he favors a national health system modeled after Canada’s, paid for by taxpayers with the government setting a national medical-care budget.

McClintock said the Canadian system is unpopular in Canada and produces long waiting lists for major surgery. He said he favors a proposal by President Bush to increase tax credits for health insurance.