POLITICAL NOTES : Format Is a Cause for Debate

DEBATE OVER A DEBATE: Labor Day marks the traditional start of the fall election season, but so far most of the action in the South Bay’s highest-profile race has been behind the scenes.

In the contest between Rancho Palos Verdes Councilwoman Susan Brooks and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Rolling Hills), the latest flap has been over debates.

Brooks sent Harman a letter last week asking her opponent in the 36th Congressional District to face her in one or more “Lincoln-Douglas” style debates. The modern day translation: a freewheeling, back-and-forth session where audience members get a chance to grill candidates on any issue.

But Harman’s campaign said it had already agreed to debate on Oct. 2, when the League of Women Voters will hold a forum at the Torrance Civic Center. Each candidate will give an opening statement, then answer questions submitted in advance from the audience.

The Harman campaign’s “definition of debate and our definition are two different things,” Brooks’ campaign manager John Perkins said. “We want to make sure all of the issues are clearly brought out, with no pre-selection of the questions.”

But Harman’s campaign spokesman, Roy Behr, said both candidates will have the chance to answer and rebut each other.

“The candidates don’t know what the questions are in advance,” he said.

And Behr also offered a tidbit about those famed Lincoln-Douglas faceoffs: Both candidates could speak for up to an hour at a time--nonstop.

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HEALTHY CHOICES: Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield) recently appeared at a Brooks’ fund-raiser at which he outlined a health reform plan he co-authored.

But contrary to a report last week, Brooks said that his appearance doesn’t mean that she supports his plan.

“What she wants to do is look at it in a bit more detail,” Perkins said. “She wants to look at what is best for the district.”

Thomas’ bill requires employers to offer insurance but not pay for it. It would provide subsidies to workers with low incomes.

Which plan does Harman support? Her campaign said she is weighing all the options.

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ENDORSE, OPPOSE OR JUST NEUTRAL? Four Palos Verdes Estates City Council members say they don’t support Brooks, even though their names have appeared on her campaign letterhead.

“Susan is a good friend, I support her as a council member, but I don’t support her in this race,” said Councilman Bill Finer, who discovered that he was on her letterhead when he went to a recent Republicans for Harman picnic.

Finer said he sent a certified letter to Brooks’ campaign last week, asking that his name be taken off her mailings. Councilman Michael Moody also has been on Brooks’ roster but is supporting Harman. Two other council members, Rosemary Humphrey and Ray Mattingly, also say they don’t support Brooks, even though they are on her stationery. They want to remain neutral.

Brooks’s campaign officials said the council members gave their oral support to Brooks before the primary. Moody, in fact, said it was his fault: He was on business trips after the primary and didn’t call the Brooks campaign until last month.

“What we are doing is going back through and identifying the individuals who are supporters,” Perkins said. “We certainly want to make sure who we are listing is accurate and correct.”

Even so, Finer said he doesn’t recall giving his endorsement but doesn’t want to create a flap. They’re friends.

“Maybe she just assumed that, as friends, I supported her in the race,” he said.

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STAMPED OUT: Republican Richard Rorex, challenging incumbent Willard H. Murray Jr. (D-Paramount) in the 52nd Assembly District, which includes Gardena, has dropped out of the race.

“Due to the extremely poor status of the economy in Southern California, I am compelled to withdraw,” he said in a press release.

Rorex was laid off in May as an engineer. It was the sixth time in the last 11 years he has been out of work. He found a new job at the U.S. Postal Service, which prohibits employees from campaigning for political office.

Still, he faced a rough election. Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 3-1 margin.