A Redundant Candidate for President

So how many times does Gov. Pete Wilson get to “announce” that he’s running for President? That he’s really running, honest?

Answer: As many times as he can get away with it. As many times as we in the news media treat his reiterations as “announcements.”

In recent elections, candidacy “announcements” have gotten out of control. They have become boring rituals, with sophomoric antics substituting for suspense. Typically, the candidate already has been running for weeks or months. The “announcement” merely is a vehicle to collect loads of free publicity. For the news media, it’s a feel-good way to give the candidate at least one good shot at the top of the telecast or on the front page.

Fine, but after the candidate has “announced” once, how many times should everybody continue to play the game?

Wilson announced the formation of his so-called “exploratory committee” on March 23, declaring unequivocally that he had “a duty . . . to seek support, to accept support for my candidacy to be President.” The word “exploratory” amounted to an abuse of language. The governor already had done his exploring and was now running. And he subsequently reiterated that at every opportunity.

But aides--trying to get every possible bite from the same apple--planned for a mid-May “formal” announcement. As if the first hadn’t counted. Throat surgery, however, left Wilson temporarily mute and the “formal” announcement was delayed. And delayed. This fed rumors that he might not run after all, as if he weren’t running already. And it hurt fund raising.

Aides didn’t help by sending mixed signals. Last Monday, a spokesman told reporters the “formal” announcement was being delayed further until the governor and the Legislature could agree on a new state budget. Some pundits speculated the candidate might be folding.

Informed of this by an aide, Wilson cursed like a sailor--or, more precisely, the ex-Marine that he is.

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On Thursday, Wilson spoke to roughly 500 supporters by telephone from his campaign headquarters, a block from the state Capitol. He unfurled a new “Pete Wilson for President” banner, covering one that ended with the two additional words “Exploratory Committee.” Nothing magically changed, of course; it remained the same outfit.

But this act was “more than symbolic,” Wilson told his phone audience, in a voice still weak and crackly. “Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind--I am running for President.”

An ordinary person might consider this a formal announcement of candidacy. But Wilson said there would be another “declaration of candidacy” next Thursday on the Larry King TV show. And “then at some point this summer,” spokesman Dan Schnur said later, “he will make a formal announcement of candidacy.”

Say what? So far, I count at least two formal announcements of candidacy with two more in the works, plus countless informal, redundant reiterations.

Does anybody who cares not know that Pete Wilson is a candidate for President? The pertinent question is not whether, but why.

Why--after promising Californians he wouldn’t run, after a stumbling start, after throat surgery, after poor poll numbers--does he insist on competing in this race? Why not use the legitimate excuse of a dysfunctional Legislature and a slow voice recovery to get out before getting beat?

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Six weeks ago, just before he heeded doctors’ orders and stopped talking, I asked Wilson why he didn’t finish out his gubernatorial term--as he had promised voters last year--and run for President in 2000. The risk would be that a Republican might then be occupying the White House. But the potential advantage was that he then might be recognized nationally as a truly outstanding governor.

“You do it when you think you’re ready,” he replied, “and not at some point in the indeterminate future.” Translation: He was hot after his comeback reelection last fall.

But he clearly has since cooled.

What about his pledge to Californians? “Last fall I meant it. . . . [Other candidates] got out. People were suddenly confronted with a choice between [Senate Majority Leader Bob] Dole and [Sen. Phil] Gramm and a lot of people came to me and said, ‘We don’t think they’re going to beat Bill Clinton. We think you can.’ ”

“I am the candidate the White House fears most. Objectively, it has reason to. . . . I’ve been tested as a chief executive . . . given leadership on some tough issues. . . . [Dole and Gramm] have been sitting there talking, holding hearings.”

Nobody believes in Pete Wilson’s candidacy more than Pete Wilson. And if you’ve missed one of his formal announcements, there’ll be others.