Early Primary Becomes a Rush to Judgment

On Tuesday, more than two months earlier than usual, Californians vote in a primary that will take many by surprise.

The new election date is the wild card in the balloting, the brainchild of legislative tinkerers who felt that a March 26 primary would give California a greater voice in the presidential nominating process. The state, with its traditional June voting, had been left far behind as many other states moved up their primary dates.

The scheme to make the California primary more relevant failed. Already, Sen. Bob Dole is all but crowned as the Republican nominee and President Clinton is unopposed in the Democratic primary except for perennial candidate Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr.

And now, with the election here so soon, scores of candidates for Congress, the Legislature, judgeships and district attorney have been robbed of the crucial campaigning months of April and May. As a result, they have been desperately scrambling to beat the calendar, raise money and get their messages out.

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It’s important that they do. Major offices and policy measures are on the ballot.

One Los Angeles County supervisor, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, whose 2nd District runs from Inglewood through Compton, is unopposed.

In another district, voters will choose a new supervisor. Don Knabe, chief aide to Supervisor Deane Dana, is running to succeed his boss, who is retiring from the 4th District seat that represents coastal communities from Marina del Rey to Long Beach and extends inland to Whittier. Knabe is Dana’s designated successor, a position permitting him to overwhelm his opponents with campaign funds.

That places the best-known challenger, Gordana Swanson, who lost to Dana four years ago, at a disadvantage. Also hurting are the lesser-known contenders, Douglas Drummond, Joel Lubin, Norm Amjadi and Richard Markowski.

The other hot race on the Los Angeles County ballot is for district attorney, where incumbent Gil Garcetti is opposed by Deputy Dist. Attys. Malcom Jordan, John F. Lynch and Sterling E. Norris and private lawyers Harold Greenberg and Steve S. Zand.

Candidate forums, television advertising and mailed literature, the favored advertising medium, are how these candidates are trying to attract the electorate’s attention. It’s tough for them, and even tougher for candidates for judicial office, Congress and the Legislature.

As usual, the ballot propositions have the most money for advertising, especially the ones supported and opposed by special interests. A judicial or legislative candidate would love a fraction of the money being spent on measures aimed at limiting lawsuits.

With most of the campaigns relying so heavily on advertising, the candidate forums provide a rare opportunity for voters to meet candidates. One of the biggest took place earlier this month, sponsored by the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., consisting of the San Fernando Valley’s top manufacturing firms and other businesses.

At first, it looked more like a candidates trade show than a forum. A meeting room at the Airtel Plaza Hotel, near the Van Nuys Airport, was packed with congressional and legislative contenders, each with a table full of literature.

Eager to give their pitch, the candidates, wearing name tags, eagerly approached VICA members with a smile and a handshake. “Nobody knows who’s running,” said Francine Oschin, a candidate in the Valley’s 40th Assembly District and deputy to City Councilman Hal Bernson. Conceding that she’s considered an underdog in the seven-person field, Oschin told me “the voters will decide, not the pundits.”

At noon, about 40 candidates or their representatives sat at long tables at the head of the room. While they were gathering, I talked to a man in the audience, Bob Caine, chief executive officer of a national collection agency and managing director of Van Nuys’ Actors Alley theater.

I asked him how he felt about the election. He said it was interesting. He is a Democrat, and thinks Clinton is his only option. But I could see he wasn’t happy with the way the election debate was unfolding. “I think there should be a little more reality in dealing with the budget and health issues,” he said. Health care, he added, was of particular concern.

Instead, the focus, once the forum got started, was on local and statewide issues. One by one, the participants were tossed questions that illustrated the concerns of the Valley business community.

The replies ranged from bitter denunciation of government from a Valley secession supporter to a strong affirmation of the school bond issue by a government supporter. With so many candidates, it was impossible to get a complete picture, except the feeling that the rhetoric was aimed at a generally conservative audience. Even though the speeches were brief, at least the VICA members saw them in the flesh.

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Afterward, I thought of what the crowded event showed about the difference between this shortened primary and 1994’s more leisurely one, permitted by the June primary date.

There wasn’t enough time this year. The primary election was a preview, an appetizer, leaving us curious, unsatisfied and awaiting much more.

The candidates could just touch on the issues. With the short time frame, mailers, especially often-misleading slates, took on more importance than in the past.

As far as California voters go, the great experiment was a failure.

Better luck to all of us in November.