Voice Woes Hurt Wilson Fund-Raising

Gov. Pete Wilson’s throat surgery more than a month ago has turned from a minor inconvenience into a damaging reality for his nascent presidential campaign, with aides now acknowledging that the governor will not meet his early fund-raising goals.

Wilson officials said the governor’s doctor-ordered absence from recent public forums has fueled rumors that he is not serious about the White House campaign. As a result, some previously committed donors are holding their investments until the governor publicly commits himself to the campaign.

An official announcement about the Wilson presidential bid had been scheduled for mid-May, but aides say it has been pushed off until early or mid-June, when they expect that the governor’s voice will be fully recovered.

“Because he’s not speaking, people are not entirely convinced that he’s running--so some people who have made a pledge [to contribute] are holding off,” a campaign source said. “This is a temporary thing that we will make up once he’s back in the race.”

Wilson aides rejected any notion that the governor is not committed to his presidential effort. And they said the campaign is still on target to raise at least $20 million by the end of this year.

But they had also promised to have at least $6 million of that in the bank by June 30, the deadline for the first public financial statement that Wilson’s campaign will file.

Sources in the campaign said Monday that they will not have $6 million in hand by the time the June report is submitted, but they are uncertain how much they will report.

“Our fund-raising goals for the year are unchanged,” a source said. “The schedule is just not as front-loaded as we originally anticipated.”

Wilson has attended a number of fund-raisers throughout the country since he announced his presidential exploratory committee in March--including at least half a dozen in the last month. But he has also postponed a few that had been planned for May and June because his voice remains a raspy whisper.

In addition to the fund-raising events that have been postponed, one Wilson aide said the governor’s ability to generate money has also been hampered because he cannot speak to contributors on the phone.

Shortly after the April 14 surgery to remove a nodule on his vocal cords, Wilson’s doctor said the governor stalled his recovery by speaking prematurely to his staff and, later, by giving a 45-minute press conference.

Wilson has been under strict orders of silence for the last week, communicating with his staff only through hand signals and written notes. In a few public appearances, the governor has appeared on stage while surrogates have read his speeches.

The governor’s doctor, Gerald S. Berke, chief of the head and neck surgery division at UCLA Medical Center, estimated at the time of the surgery that the recovery would take about a week. On Friday, Berke issued a statement saying he expects a complete recovery, but he did not predict when.

Wilson’s voice problem is one of many that have plagued the early days of his presidential campaign.

Earlier this month, the governor was forced to explain his role in hiring a housekeeper at least 15 years ago who was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. And his campaign staff has revealed signs of growing pains and internal strife.

Officials said Monday that the governor’s longtime chief adviser, George Gorton, left the campaign for a few days last month due to bitter feelings that he was not picked to be the lead strategist for the presidential campaign.

Last month, Wilson chose Craig Fuller, a top strategist in former President George Bush’s 1988 campaign, to be the overall strategist for his White House bid. Gorton retained his title of campaign manager, but he will be limited to strategy and message development and will report to Fuller.

On Monday, a spokesman for the campaign downplayed the lasting impact of the recent problems and the attention they have received in the national media.

“One of the reasons that the governor announced an exploratory committee back in March . . . was to allow some time to put together an organization,” said Dan Schnur, spokesman for the presidential campaign. “So any criticism like this is not real relevant from our perspective. Frankly, we don’t think the game has started yet.”

Wilson officials repeated that they have already collected about $15 million in financial pledges to the presidential campaign. They said it is not the overall amount, but the timing in which it will be collected that has changed.

Aides also said the governor’s contributors have called to ask about rumors that he may opt out of the presidential race. They said Wilson’s appearance Saturday at a presidential candidates forum in Green Bay, Wis.,--where the governor’s wife, Gayle, read his speech--should help dispel the rumors.

“That wasn’t the primary intention [of the trip], but it was a very helpful byproduct,” said Schnur. “There’s no question that the governor’s attendance at the Midwest Leadership Conference sends a very clear signal to the political community that Pete Wilson is running for President, no two ways about it.”

Schnur blamed the rival Republican presidential campaign of Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole for spreading the rumors. “If I’m Bob Dole’s campaign and I’ve got no message to sell and I’m scared to death of Pete Wilson, I’m going to spend as much time as I can telling people who will listen that Pete Wilson is not serious about the race,” he said.

Dole spokesman Nelson Warfield denied that the Republican senator was responsible for the rumors. “Our focus is Bill Clinton,” he said.