Taking a Look at High Hopes and Unmet Expectations : Candidate Clinton fueled ardent Valley supporters’ dreams of a better future. President Clinton needs to begin living up to their fervor.

If you need a perspective on what has gone drastically wrong with President Clinton’s first five months in office, look no further than the San Fernando Valley more than 10 months ago.

In the heat of a presidential campaign, the Clinton-Gore headquarters I worked at in Van Nuys was a bundle of activity. Volunteers numbering in the hundreds swarmed the United Democratic Campaign office, offering hours of free service in order to elect the first Democratic President since Jimmy Carter.

In their passion, they even brought their children to the office to help.

They skipped a day from work and put their lives on hold to fervently do any small part they could to elect the man who promised to “put people first” and bring “hope to a country that most assuredly needs it.”

These were Valley residents, agitated over the past few years, frustrated by the apathy of their country, afraid of the future. And they were the most passionate citizens of this free country that one could imagine.

Please let us not forget why many of the 43% of voters in the country and more than 60% of voters in the Valley voted for Bill Clinton in November. Stagnation had brought people to a point of sadness about the United States and the world.

I can recall seeing volunteers crying over the fact that Clinton might actually lose the election. They would come running into the office furiously screaming that Clinton had dropped 1% or 2% in the polls, asking what they could do to rescue the man who had promised to rescue them.

Clinton was not elected because of a tremendous history of success or his accomplishments as governor of Arkansas. Clinton was elected because of his ability to provide hope, excitement and a future to a country that desperately needs them.

It was the emotional volunteers spending hundreds of hours every day that put Clinton into the White House. That is why thousands of Valley residents voted for Clinton--because of the hope he provided, because of the passion he exhibited.

If Clinton is to turn around his first few months of misfortune, he needs to understand the perspective of why he was elected in the first place and begin to implement the policies and promises that so encouraged the Valley to support him.

Among other things, he must take three major steps to secure the trust Valley residents had for him

and reignite the passion that marked his campaign:

* Support Mayor Richard Riordan.

Riordan carried the Valley by an even greater margin than Clinton. The Valley, unlike much of the rest of the city of Los Angeles, is unpredictable in its voting habits.

Clinton cannot assume that his majority here in 1992 will retain momentum for the next four years. In fact, it has been all but lost.

If Clinton is to keep his promises to the Valley residents who voted for him, he needs to make sure that Riordan gets as much support both economically and emotionally as Clinton can provide.

If Riordan indeed keeps his promise of “turning Los Angeles around” (a message aimed primarily at the Valley), it is Clinton who must be able to tell Valley residents that he assisted in the accomplishment.

* Bring the Valley back economically.

Maybe Clinton’s greatest magnet to the thousands who worked for him was the promise that he would bring California full-turn economically, restoring jobs and faith in the government.

His failure so far is one of the greatest factors in the Valley’s lack of support for him.

Valley residents are not asking Clinton why he is not assisting the California economy, but why he is not attempting to assist the California economy.

Better tax breaks for businesses and an end to discussion of a possible value-added tax or energy tax is desired, but if Clinton does something, it would be appreciated by a volatile but conservatively Democratic San Fernando Valley that felt ignored over the past four years.

* Prove he cares.

What many Clinton volunteers did not like about George Bush was not the fact that he didn’t succeed in helping the Valley out of the recession, but that he didn’t seem to care enough to try.

Clinton’s caring was all he offered during the campaign, and is much of what he needs to offer as President.