Getting Beyond Partisan Politics : Mayor Riordan is latest to join Feinstein camp

Following an example set by New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a fellow Republican, Richard Riordan has wisely put partisanship aside: On Sunday Los Angeles’ mayor endorsed a Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, in a hotly contested race for the Senate.

Riordan called the incumbent senator a pragmatic leader who has worked well with both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. We know that the mayor surely is politician enough to have won some specific promises from Feinstein to help Los Angeles recover from its multiple wounds. Good.

In endorsing the senator’s reelection bid, Riordan joins Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block and numerous other Republicans. It could be seen as both a practical choice--latest polls show Feinstein gaining strength--and a smart choice because the Democrat is the clearly superior candidate. Nevertheless, Republican Riordan’s regard for the right choice over the right party line is refreshing.

Of course Rep. Mike Huffington’s remarks of the past few days may have made Riordan’s choice of his rival that much easier. The Huffington campaign has been shaken by last week’s disclosure that he employed an illegal Mexican immigrant as a nanny for five years. That was one week after he endorsed the divisive and dangerous Proposition 187, which would deny public services to illegal aliens and turn health and school officials into immigration cops. Feinstein opposes 187, as does The Times.

Huffington and his wife, Arianna, say the nanny was beloved and needed by their children; yet 187 would close school doors to the illegal immigrant children of many such nannies and would deny them medical care. Asked Sunday in a national TV interview what will happen to illegal immigrant children if 187 passes, he said they could go to private schools.

The public knows that hypocrisy and demagoguery run deep in American politics and are the monopoly of no one party and no one candidate. But when Huffington endorsed 187 he complained that too many people “cut corners, looked the other way” in hiring illegal aliens. Little did we know then that he was talking about the Huffington situation.