Democrats’ Happy Days Here Again : Politics: As the state party begins its convention in a gleeful mood, squabbling is expected to be limited to who will run for governor in 1994.

California Democrats began meeting here Friday in a mood unimaginable for almost three decades: Happy. Confident. Gloating, even.

For the first time since 1965, the state’s largest political party gathered for its yearly convention having won the state for its presidential candidate the previous year.

On top of that, Democrats swept the other big 1992 California races--electing two new U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and embarrassing Gov. Pete Wilson by turning back his initiative to expand his budgetary powers and limit welfare payments.

The victories have led not only to buoyant glee but also to a palpable sense of relief among the party’s leaders, who are more than used to gatherings that feature a loser’s menu of backbiting, finger-pointing and habitual disarray.

“For the first time in a long time, it frees us up--unlike the other party, pointing fingers about who screwed up. For the first time in a long time, we’re liberated from internal struggles, having shown we can work together,” Phil Angelides, the outgoing party chairman, said in an interview before convention meetings began Friday night.

That is the optimist’s view, for the weekend will also preview what is expected to be an intra-party squabble over the biggest prize of 1994--the Democratic nomination for governor. Both state Treasurer Kathleen Brown and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, probable entrants in the race, will speak to the 2,500 delegates Sunday.

Serious politicking for advantage in the lesser-known state races is expected to continue through the weekend both behind the scenes and out in the open. One of the first signs of the stakes involved in the upcoming campaign year--in which most if not all statewide offices will be hotly contested--is a $400,000 fund-raiser to benefit Angelides’ expected bid for lieutenant governor.

On a more timely track, the delegates today will select a new party chairman, choosing between Los Angeles television commentator and former statewide candidate Bill Press and Steve Barr, one of the co-founders of the successful “Rock the Vote” youth registration organization. Press is expected to win.

Certainly, the Democrats begin this electoral cycle in far better shape than even the party’s dreamers might have imagined a year ago: Since last February, the party registered 1,132,000 more Democrats than it lost from voter rolls, running up a 49%-37% margin over registered Republicans. Between June and November, the state party raised and spent $5 million for its “united campaign,” the fund used to finance party activities.

But with winning can come a host of concerns, although not quite as severe as those confronting a loser. Chief among them is the maxim that even as losing can breed a desperate unity, winning can breed a sloppy overconfidence.

State party chairman candidate Barr points to some obvious concerns: Independent candidate Ross Perot fared well in California, and between his voters and President Bush’s, the majority of the state’s voters did not side with Bill Clinton in 1992.

“The Democratic Party has got to look not just at how we keep the votes (of its partisans),” said Barr, but also at how to attract non-Democrats. “We can’t do it by keeping the status quo.”

Press said the party’s imperative is to maintain the single-minded focus that Angelides and others demanded in 1992.

“He (Angelides) was able to rise above all the traditional party squabbles last year,” Press said, “by just saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to focus: The focus is Barbara, Dianne and Clinton.’ ”

“And our focus in ’94 is Feinstein, Lungren and Wilson: Reelect Dianne, get rid of (Atty. Gen. Dan) Lungren, get rid of Pete Wilson.”

At this early stage, Wilson’s reelection campaign is deeply troubled. A Los Angeles Times poll published last week showed that only 30% of Californians approved of the way he is handling the governorship.

But many Democrats suggest that Wilson, a veteran and usually successful statewide campaigner, should not be taken lightly. The outgoing party chief said it is essential for Democrats this week to begin crafting a rationale that will draw voters not just away from Wilson but toward the Democratic candidate.

“This is the first testing ground for those who want to lead us in 1994, to say how they would lead us and where they would take the state,” Angelides said.

As expected, Wilson bore the brunt of the criticism as the Democrats gathered. In a late afternoon press conference, Angelides derided Wilson as a “little man” with “little heart and little vision and incapable of leading.”

“What Pete Wilson has done in the face of the most massive problems this state has ever faced is he has whined and he has complained but has shown no capacity to inspire and unite and lead,” he said.

The Democratic appeal for disciplined unity is expected to be tested repeatedly as the election nears, and different approaches can already be seen in past and present party leaders.

Angelides and Barr, for example, suggest that the party has to abandon its traditional approaches and orthodoxy and forage for new supporters. Angelides pointed with particular pride to the circumstances that last year led Clinton and other senior Democrats to promote the “restructuring” of government--or, as Angelides said, “to quit defending a government that wasn’t working.”

But Press, for one, is running on a slate with vice chair candidate Arlene Holt, an official with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the organization that represents the traditional Democratic constituency of labor. His statements during his campaign for the chairmanship suggest a more traditional approach to party-building.

Apart from the contest for chairman, the convention will sport the usual elements of any political gathering--a lot of speeches and commentary on issues. An early list of resolutions crafted by delegates suggests discussions of everything from campaign reform to democracy in Haiti to a national health care system.

Speeches and campaign-style rallies will occupy much of the delegates’ time. Feinstein and Boxer were scheduled to appear at the convention today, but they may have to speak via video because of continuing negotiations in the Senate over the Clinton economic plan.

Brown and Garamendi are scheduled to speak on Sunday, and addresses by prominent members of Congress and the Legislature are planned.

Democratic National Committee Chairman David Wilhelm is scheduled to deliver the keynote address today.