A Converse Result of Term Limits

There were no television cameras at this victory party. There was no speech, no cheering partisans. I can’t recall a single balloon. There were cold cuts and Cokes and a dozen or so of the candidate’s supporters watching returns on two TVs. There was also a storeroom loaded with an arsenal of campaign signs that were deemed unnecessary for the primary, but will soon be planted on lawns in Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Pacoima and elsewhere. They looked something like this:

Another Valley Voter for

Senator

ROSENTHAL

Democrat

Seven well-chosen words should be more than enough to assure that state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal will successfully complete his hop from his home district, rooted primarily in the Westside, to the 20th, entirely in the Valley. “Another Valley Voter . . .” mutes the charges of carpetbagger. “Senator” connotes experience and implies incumbency. “Democrat” speaks volumes in a district that is only 28% Republican.

I had dropped by because I wanted to talk with Rosenthal, a 20-year veteran of the Legislature, about term limits. Fans of term limits say politicians like Rosenthal are the reason term limits are a fine idea--to bring in new people, new ideas. People prefer the idea of “citizen-politicians” to the idea of “career politicians.” I’m still not sold. Haven’t voters always had the power to end a politician’s career?

The odd thing is, term limits are extending Rosenthal’s.

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If you ask Herschel Rosenthal why, at age 77, he is still running instead of retiring, you’ll hear a lot of ifs. “If it wasn’t for the earthquake” is one. “If Barbara Friedman had decided to run” is another. Another is the fact that reapportionment in 1990 bequeathed to Rosenthal, accustomed to his Westside, heavily Jewish base, a turf farther east with a 46% Latino population. And another is his failure to beat Tom Hayden in a 1992 race for the 23rd Senate District on the Westside--the seat Rosenthal coveted as his solution to redistricting.

But of all the ifs, none is bigger than term limits. If not for that, state Sen. David Roberti would not have run, unsuccessfully, for treasurer. Roberti, having survived carpetbagging charges himself, would have run for reelection and retained his considerable power as Senate majority leader. Even Valleyites who don’t care for Roberti may miss the way his clout might have aided Valley causes, from earthquake recovery to the crusade to dismantle the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Instead it will be Rosenthal, serving one last term. Only months before he had announced his intention to retire and held a fund-raiser to cover campaign debts.

How did this happen? The official story is that, after Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman, busy with an adopted baby, opted against a run for the Senate in a overlapping district, the Democratic leadership turned to Rosenthal and encouraged him to run. Rosenthal, whose district has always included southern portions of the Valley, said he decided to switch districts only because of the Northridge earthquake and his fervent belief that the Valley needs an experienced hand to help with quake legislation.

To some political observers, this earthquake explanation seems almost quaint. Instead of a selfless public servant, they see a cog in a political machine that simply adapts and mutates to the new reality of term limits. They see a man who long ago was busy volunteering for other candidates before he was anointed by the political alliance headed by congressmen Henry Waxman and Howard Berman. They say Rosenthal won election in a safe district, and now simply doesn’t want to let go of the privilege, prestige and perks. In the campaign against Hayden, he was criticized for accepting gifts and travel from special interests.

Michael Del Rio, the neophyte who was Rosenthal’s only opposition in the primary, couldn’t resist a chuckle when told that it was the earthquake that made Rosenthal run. Del Rio, an investment banker, received 25% of the vote--”a respectable showing,” he said, “for being a 27-year-old Hispanic from the Valley.”

Del Rio, unlike Rosenthal, is a fan of term limits. “Anytime somebody’s in office for more than two terms,” he says, “it becomes a boys’ club . . . a boys’ and girls’ club. And really, everybody’s in somebody’s pocket.”

But he speaks respectfully of Rosenthal, praising him as “one of the best.”

Del Rio, who had filed for both the 20th Senate District and for Friedman’s Assembly seat in case she pursued the upper house, intends to try again. “Basically this was a steppingstone for me to get name recognition,” he explains.

And if Del Rio plans to run in ‘98, it would be nice to have the incumbent’s support. Even better, it would be nice if Rosenthal encouraged him to run--just as Waxman urged Rosenthal to run for his old Assembly seat back in ’74.