Lt. Gov. Davis Takes Conservative Tack in Advice to Party

Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, the onetime Jerry Brown aide who now is the ranking Democrat in Sacramento, said Wednesday his party must abandon its fidelity to big government and focus on the “real world” needs and frustrations of working Californians.

The 52-year-old Davis, meeting with political writers in Los Angeles, sounded a more conservative tone than in the past, advocating smaller government, streamlined environmental regulation, economic stimulus for small businesses and a tough approach to crime and illegal immigration.

Davis also disclosed that he is working with other Democratic leaders to draft a party response to a proposed ballot initiative that would repeal all affirmative action laws and rules in California.

Davis would not discuss details of those talks, but indicated that he believes Democrats would be foolhardy to oppose the initiative automatically, although affirmative action has been a keystone of Democratic policies for three decades.

“There shouldn’t be any sacred cows in public policy and all of us should have the courage to re-examine policies, no matter how noble, to make sure they’re still wanted,” Davis said.

Referring to affirmative action, he added: “I think the Democratic Party has to think it through--come up with a responsible position consistent with its principles, and I’m trying to help us get there.”

Emerging as the Democrats’ chief spokesman at the state level, Davis sounded almost as conservative as Republican Gov. Pete Wilson on many matters. But Davis said Democrats do not need to ape their opposition or cede any issues to Republicans to win elections.

Rather, he said, they should return to their modern roots in the Depression-era Administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“This state is more conservative than people appreciate,” Davis said, noting that Democrats have elected only three California governors in this century.

“People say we should move to our left or our right,” he added. “I say go back to our roots. Roosevelt rewarded people for working. He didn’t simply send them a check without some responsibilities, without some obligations attended thereto.”

Davis also spoke of offering to work in “common cause” with Wilson on two issues that Davis has long promoted but that also were integral to Wilson’s reelection campaign: economic development and regulatory reform.

Davis said he made the offer when he met with Wilson in December to discuss Davis’ role as acting governor during Wilson’s 2 1/2-week absence from the state, which ends today.

Wilson has not yet responded, Davis said. The governor was on vacation in Portugal the latter part of January and then went to Washington for the winter meeting of the National Governors Assn.

Davis said the core of his program is to provide an economic climate for the creation of jobs and to reward average Californians who work hard, pay their taxes and struggle to put their children through college.

“If I have one message, it is that the Democrats should honor and reward work,” Davis said. “The whole system crashes if people stop working, stop paying bills and meeting their obligations.”

The people also want less government and fewer regulations, Davis said.

“I think Democrats make a big mistake by posturing themselves as pro-status quo,” he said.

Affirmative action and cutting government pose tricky problems for Democrats. The party’s traditional base includes racial and ethnic minorities that benefit from affirmative action programs, and labor unions that stand to lose jobs as government is pared.

The 1996 battle could mimic the emotional fight over Proposition 187 last year.

Wilson led Republicans in support of the successful initiative to cut off aid to illegal immigrants in California. Kathleen Brown, the Democratic nominee for governor, made opposition to Proposition 187 the focus of her campaign the final two weeks, seeking to mobilize Latino Democrats who feared the consequences of the measure.

But the electorate Nov. 8 was dominated by non-Latino white voters, who supported Proposition 187 by a margin of 28%, according to exit polls. Although 24% of California’s population is Latino, only 9% of the voters were.

Davis said he focused on the Proposition 187 issue exclusively during a 45-minute meeting with President Clinton in December, seeking pledges of more Border Patrol agents and more federal funds to reimburse California for the cost of services provided to illegal immigrants under congressional mandate.

When a reporter suggested that he sounded like Wilson on that issue, Davis said, “We’re getting the shaft. What can I tell you?”

In California, governors and lieutenant governors--who are not elected on the same ticket--have often talked of sharing some responsibilities. But this rarely has happened, even when the two have had the same party label.

The No. 2 official usually has been left to his own devices, and occasional ministerial work as president of the state Senate, adding to the impression that the job is a vehicle to political oblivion.

So far, the Davis-Wilson relationship appears to be off to an uncommonly cooperative beginning.

Davis is the only Democrat who held statewide office going into the 1994 election to survive the Republican victory. He won the lieutenant governorship by more than 1 million votes after eight years of relatively high-profile service as the state controller.

Before that, Davis represented parts of Westside Los Angeles in the Assembly. He was chief of staff to former Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. during the first six years of Brown’s governorship in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Davis is expected by many Democrats to run for governor in 1998, but he said Wednesday he has not made plans for that far in the future.