Rep. Huffington Launches Advertising Blitz in Quest for Senate Seat : Campaign: Santa Barbara Republican will again tap his fortune for TV ads. He hopes to oppose Feinstein.

Get ready, California, to meet Rep. Michael Huffington.

On Friday, the Santa Barbara Republican, who spent $5 million of his own money to win a Central Coast congressional seat two years ago, broadcast the first of many television ads to come in his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in November.

Ask the folks who live in his district about him. He’s the face that seemed to never leave their television screens when he first ran for office in 1992.

“It just seemed like they were on all of the time,” recalled Lowell Winter, a hotel administrator at the Cambria Pines Lodge. “He must know that it pays off, but you sure get a lot of it.”

Nobody in U.S. history had spent as much money on television commercials for a congressional campaign. Now Huffington (R-Santa Barbara), a former banker and the son of a Texas oilman, is planning something similar for the rest of California.

Largely through television, his advisers expect that two out of three Californians will know Huffington by the time he faces former Republican Rep. William E. Dannemeyer on the June 7 primary ballot.

“This is the first step of introducing Michael Huffington to the voters,” said Bruce Blakeman, an adviser to the campaign. “We are running against a professional politician (Feinstein) who has been running for public office for years and we have a long way to make up.”

There is nothing fancy about this 30-second commercial--the first this year from a statewide candidate. It simply pictures the 46-year-old congressman talking to the camera about the personal values and limited government that he supports.

The ad begins with the freshman lawmaker recommending a new book by William J. Bennett, President Ronald Reagan’s former education secretary, “The Book of Virtues.” It is an anthology of poems, fables and essays ranging from Shakespeare to Martin Luther King that is targeted to children.

“It’s a collection of wonderful classic stories to help teach our children values--such as responsibility, courage, compassion, perseverance, hard work and faith,” Huffington says in the ad. “This book is also a great reminder that solving problems in our country depends on strong individuals and strong families, not on government.”

The ad never mentions that Huffington is a Republican or a congressman. And it refers to the Senate race only in a closing caption.

Kam Kuwata, who will be Feinstein’s California campaign director, was critical of the commercial’s attack on government problem-solving--especially with all of the state’s problems.

“There are times when government can respond to basic needs like crime prevention, earthquake relief and fire relief,” he said. “Sometimes when you’re so wealthy, you’re out of touch with the needs of average working people.”

Larry McCarthy, Huffington’s media adviser, declined to say how much the campaign will spend to broadcast the ad. But he said the commercial will be shown statewide and with enough frequency that most Californians should see it at least a few times in the next several weeks.

He said the campaign is planning to release more introductory commercials in the next few weeks.

February is traditionally considered a bit early for candidates to start television commercials. Most think the money is better saved until later in the campaign. Strategists also wonder whether enough voters are paying attention to politics to make an ad effective.

“In a perfect world you wouldn’t start until later,” McCarthy conceded. “But Congressman Huffington is not well known statewide.”

Money is also not expected to be a major problem for Huffington. His opponents are wondering how bottomless his wallet will prove to be in the campaign since the candidate has promised to spend some of his considerable wealth. But he has also said he won’t pay for everything and he expects much of the campaign to be financed with contributions.