Scrambling for Just the Right Words

Gov. Pete Wilson is tough-- a tough governor for tough times.

No, he’s a flip-flopper-- flipping and flopping with the political winds.

Treasurer Kathleen Brown? She’s visionary.

Actually, make that shallow.

Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi is a doer.

But he’s irrelevant.

Roughly 13 months before the 1994 general election, the gubernatorial candidates are busily testing their messages--in speeches, photo-ops, sound bites, mostly accentuating one or two words with the aim of creating tidy images in the voters’ minds.

Brown, the early Democratic front-runner, recently was advised by a veteran strategist that she could count on only 4 1/2 minutes of voters’ attention during the entire campaign. Those were the minutes that she would buy on television, mostly for 30-second commercials. She did not totally accept the thesis, an aide reports.

The candidates realize that they cannot afford to wait until next year’s blitz of TV ads to begin beaming their messages. Brown and Garamendi now have images that tend to be fuzzy, and they must fill in the blanks before their opponents do. Wilson, on the other hand, has been trying to redraw his poor image--and with some success.

A statewide survey by the Times Poll last week found that in the past six months, Wilson’s job approval (37%) has increased seven points while his disapproval (45%) has fallen 14 points. A significant share of the credit goes to his tough stance against illegal immigration.

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When Wilson proclaimed last month that Democratic critics of his immigration proposals could “kiss my rear end,” he not only gained a broader audience for his views, he displayed toughness. Of course, he already had an image of toughness, but of the negative sort. To many people, he was hardheaded and mean-spirited.

So the governor now is trying to put a positive spin on toughness, as in: Those budget cuts were painful , but a governor is elected to make the tough decisions. Bitter medicine was necessary to heal the state.

GOP consultant Sal Russo notes, however, that “the cod-liver oil argument works only if there’s evidence the patient is better. It’s iffy as to whether the California economy is going to look better a year from now.”

Democrats cry that the governor flip-flops . When the state party pointed out that Wilson as a U.S. senator had insisted on supplying farmers with cheap immigrant labor, it really was saying much more: He can’t be trusted. He’ll move one way one year (raise taxes) and move 180 degrees another (cut taxes).

Wilson also is a weak leader, Democrats charge. The governor was attacked for not taking a stand on Proposition 174, the school voucher initiative, and the party’s news release contained this tasteless inanity: “Wilson is getting hemorrhoids from his straddling and (state Democratic Chairman Bill) Press delivered to (him) a tube of Preparation H.” Press actually delivered the ointment/prop to TV cameras at last weekend’s Republican State Convention.

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Brown’s message is that she sees a vision of California’s future and can provide the missing leadership . She is a fourth-generation native daughter who cares deeply about the state; her family business is governing.

But that’s about all of her qualifications, opponents complain; she has little experience in state government and does not offer specific solutions. She also recently flip-flopped herself, opposing the North American Free Trade Agreement after initially supporting it.

“Californians aren’t interested in cotton-candy solutions,” Garamendi told reporters, referring indirectly to his Democratic rival.

Brown counters by staging public events--such as an upcoming series of hearings on local government finance--aimed at establishing her credentials as a sound fiscal manager. Her advisers believe this is especially important given old stereotypes about the inability of women to handle money.

Garamendi is projecting himself as “a warrior willing to fight” who can make things happen , an experienced politician who has battled the automobile insurance companies and won $750 million in rate rollbacks.

But Garamendi trails Brown by 15 points in the latest Times poll and lags far behind in fund raising. So she is ignoring him publicly, hoping he’ll vanish. Her tacit message to party contributors and activists, says a Brown strategist: “She’s going to be the nominee. Why waste your time with this guy?!”

Messages must be chosen carefully. They cost money to spread and are almost impossible to erase.

In the end, the best message conveys a candidate’s conviction. And that’s what gets tricky for voters: What’s conviction and what’s contrived? Sometimes even the candidate isn’t certain.