Democratic Wipeout, Voter Anger and California’s Challenge : The election apparently marks a new era in politics, and one that demands a new integrity in political life

The political aftershocks continue, from the halls of Capitol Hill to the State House in Sacramento. Nov. 8, 1994, marked the back-to-the-future election, the biggest change in Washington since Dwight D. Eisenhower was President.

The Grand Old Party, typically affiliated with the status quo, became the party of change. President Clinton was dealt what could only be charitably described as a slap in the face as most of the candidates he personally campaigned for fell in defeat. Senate Democrats Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Charles S. Robb, who was facing Iran-Contra prevaricator Oliver L. North in Virginia’s race for the Senate, were among the exceptions.

Republicans now hold majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives, and a majority of the 50 governors is now Republican.

National Democratic stars such as Gov. Mario Cuomo of New York and Gov. Ann Richards of Texas are out, replaced by relative GOP unknowns like George Pataki, as well as by GOP royalty like George W. Bush, son of the former President.

The Democrats took body blows at every level. Even the House majority leader, Democrat Thomas S. Foley of Washington, couldn’t win a seat in Congress Tuesday, though Republican Sonny Bono (late of Sonny and Cher) could.

Voters were in an exasperated and surly mood. Plainly, Americans want government to deliver, even if they are not always clear on exactly what they want delivered. Let the new GOP majority be warned: Everything in Tuesday’s vote indicates that if voters don’t get satisfaction, the electorate will seek more vengeance at the polls two years from now.

WILSON’S HUGE CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE: Here in California Gov. Pete Wilson has won reelection, and he won big. His significant victory over Treasurer Kathleen Brown has fueled speculation that Wilson already is running for a bigger political prize, the White House. However, he must face a more immediate concern--governing California after an election season that clearly revealed the deep fissures along the state’s ethnic, racial and class lines.

This is the challenge that confronts Wilson: Will he put campaigning behind him now and govern as the moderate leader of all Californians or will he continue in campaign mode, which can only deepen the scars left from the divisive campaign for Proposition 187? Wilson’s words on Wednesday were right: “ . . . there is no room in California for bigotry, discrimination. We will continue to condemn intolerance. We will continue to protect individual rights. This is a commitment we make to all Californians without regard to ethnic origin or skin color. It applies regardless of whether the English they speak is with an accent.”

But the actions Wilson took early Wednesday were not nearly so encouraging. He issued an executive order to begin implementation of the measure that will cut off social services to illegal immigrants, including an immediate cutoff of prenatal health care. He also attempted to define what under Proposition 187 would be a “reasonably suspect” person: one who fails to provide documentation of legal residency. But what exactly does that mean? Would a driver’s license with an address be enough to satisfy law enforcement officials?

The Times strongly opposed Proposition 187, for the wrongheaded way it attempted to “Do Something” about illegal immigration. The inherent unfairness of Latinos being targeted as “reasonably suspect” for no reason other than ethnicity, the unanswered questions about how it would be implemented and the lawsuits expected to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court were just three of many reasons.

Proposition 187 passed with large support, by a 59% vote, a strong measure of just how much voters are demanding that politicians focus on the very real problem of illegal immigration. The measure received a majority vote only from whites but was astoundingly close among Asian Americans (54% against to 46% for) and African Americans (56% against to 44% for). Among Latino voters, the measure failed big, 78% to 22%. That disparity reflects one of those fissures Wilson must now address--constructively, as the governor, not as a candidate. For instance, California’s population is at least one-quarter Latino, but only 8% of those who voted Tuesday were Latino. That fact is distressing and serves no one’s long-term interests. It is a question for Wilson and all of California’s other political leaders: how best to register more Latinos and thus encourage greater participation--and power--at the polls.

THE RAZOR-CLOSE SENATE RACE: Sen. Dianne Feinstein apparently is the winner in a race that, based on her record and her opponent’s lack of one, should never have been close. It’s a measure of the power of negative television and radio ads that this race came down to the wire. In the final days of the campaign, charges from both camps about employing illegal immigrants (Rep. Mike Huffington admitted hiring an illegal immigrant, in violation of federal law), not policy issues, dominated the debate. For all the public bemoaning of negative campaigning, candidates--unfortunately--resort to it for a good reason: It apparently works. Feinstein, once the state’s most popular politician because of her solid record of achievement, sank in the polls once Huffington, a relative political unknown before this campaign, began spending heavily, attacking her at every turn in paid ads. A laugher race became a real horse race. More than 500,000 key absentee ballots are still uncounted.

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STATE ISSUES: Besides Proposition 187, another daunting problem looms: the state budget. Wilson and the Legislature, which also gained several Republicans, must come up with a responsible plan for long-term financing in California. The serious budget problems facing this state will only be exacerbated by the passage of Proposition 184, the “three-strikes” crime measure that is expected to increase the cost of corrections by a crushing 120%, adding about $5.5 billion to an already overburdened state budget.

There is, thankfully, a glimmer of good news: the resounding defeat of Proposition 188, the pro-smoking measure masquerading as an anti-smoking measure. The measure, bankrolled primarily by Philip Morris, the tobacco maker, started out as popular in the polls, and no wonder. It was billed as offering “tough, statewide” smoking restrictions, but it turned out Proposition 188 would have thrown out the much tougher restrictions already passed by the Legislature. The word got out. The voters got it. The deceit failed. The message is as clear as the air in a smoke-free restaurant: The Legislature had best not tamper with the stringent smoking law due to go into effect in January.

WHAT NEXT?: What will the GOP do with its newfound power? Is it a recipe for more gridlock between a Democratic President and a GOP Congress? For the moment, at least, putative Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich promise to work with the President on behalf of the national interests. Although he certainly had precious little choice, a conciliatory Clinton extended the olive branch Wednesday, vowing to work with Republicans on free trade, welfare reform, reducing federal spending and other issues on which he and the GOP naturally converge. Given the events of the California election, immigration reform also probably will make its way onto the national agenda, which is exactly where it belongs. Feinstein, who already has worked diligently on increasing law enforcement at the border, should be helpful in pushing immigration reform in a sensible and fair-minded way.

Talk of tax reduction, too, was big in Washington Wednesday. It’s going to be a neat trick to see exactly how Congress and the President achieve that without cutting what amount to huge middle-class entitlement programs--Social Security and Medicare.

In Washington the air is thick with pledges of bipartisan cooperation and moving ahead. What Washington must do first is get a clear reading on just what voters want it to move ahead on. Here in California, the air is thick with unanswered questions as the state and the nation wait to see how California will handle the passage of a Draconian anti-illegal immigration measure. Passage of Proposition 187 carries the potential to either galvanize positive reform in Washington or, if handled badly, tear the state apart. Gov. Wilson, which shall it be?