Environmental Group Targets Democrat

When the League of Conservation Voters recently unveiled a hit list of members of Congress it wanted out of office, Rep. Gary Condit was the only Democratic target.

The Central Valley political maverick, regarded as the most conservative Democrat in the California delegation, had frequently rankled environmentalists with his views, but his anointment as one of the league’s “Dirty Dozen” came as a shock.

“I was surprised,” said Condit (D-Ceres). “For the Dirty Dozen, you would think they would pick the 12 worst people in Congress. There are a lot of people ahead of me. I have no interest in setting the environmental movement back. I just want to add some balance.”

The league had plenty of incumbents to choose from: 135 members were awarded zeros on its environmental scorecards.

But to the league, Condit’s legislative behavior was too much to take.

“He introduced his own [property] takings bill, was way out in front on regulatory reform and environmental regulatory roll-backs,” said league President Deb Callahan. “He really went out of his way.

“We felt we had to let him know that the environmental movement was not going to take a bye on this.”

The league’s branding of the Modesto-area Democrat as an arch foe of the environment is a revealing example of how outside interest groups are taking a more aggressive role in electoral politics--and spending their money in different ways.

“This Congress had been so extraordinarily bad that the board of directors and the staff sat down and said . . . we’ve got to do something different,” Callahan said.

Interest groups on both sides of the ideological ledger are getting into the act.

The AFL-CIO has launched a $35-million campaign, aimed mostly at toppling vulnerable GOP freshmen.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of business-related organizations are seeking to counterbalance the massive labor effort.

Informal alliances of consumer groups are vying with similar groups of anti-tax and anti-gun-control organizations to pack Congress with sympathetic lawmakers.

The groups’ more visceral approach to congressional campaigning has had a polarizing effect.

A political acrobat, Condit adroitly somersaults into Republican ideological territory and back again to satisfy his independent-minded 18th Congressional District, which favored Republican presidents throughout the 1980s.

Candidate Bill Clinton, laden with environmental activism, struggled to victory in 1992 with only 41% of the vote.

With a touchy district, Condit is the sort of wily Democrat usually given the benefit of the doubt when he breaks ranks. His appearance on the Dirty Dozen list may, however, serve as a wake-up call to other undisciplined Democrats that the rules have changed.

“If you vote against the environment, you could be called into account on election day,” Callahan said. “And if you don’t make the list this year, you might make it next year.”

Historically, the league had operated as a PAC, doling out money to incumbents and candidates who hewed to the environmental lobby’s world view. In the 1994 election cycle, it gave more than $1 million.

“This year we’re reducing that to $150,000, taking all the rest of the money, raising more and throwing it into these sorts of campaigns,” Callahan said.

The league resuscitated the catchy “Dirty Dozen” label, an action-movie title that worked perfectly for tarring members of Congress adjudged rude to the environment.

The group Environmental Action had used the moniker in the 1970s and let the league take it over, Callahan said.

The league was emboldened by its success in helping elect Democrat Ron Wyden in the special election held earlier this year to replace disgraced Oregon Republican Bob Packwood.

Peppering Wyden’s GOP challenger with ads attacking clean-water violations at his factory, the environmental issue caught fire.

“At the end of the day, we ran an exit poll: three-quarters of voters remembered our message, and half of that three-quarters voted for Wyden for his environmental record. Two-thirds of voters thought that the environment was more important in this election than any other,” Callahan said. “The numbers jumped off the page. We decided that this was a great way to maximize our resources and make a difference.”

Condit dismisses the Dirty Dozen mantle as little more than a fund-raising ploy.

“They’re more interested in political grandstanding than finding common ground,” said Condit, noting that the group had never visited him.

“Whatever they do, we’ll deal with it,” he said, “but we won’t do anything different in our campaign.”

“Familiarity with the district is more important than any political party that you belong to or any political ad or political group endorsing you. People here know who I am and know I have a good balanced record on the environment,” Condit said.

Condit’s GOP opponent, Modesto general contractor Bill Conrad, will hardly provide the environmentalists with any philosophical comfort.

“I very much agree with Condit on his environmental positions, only I’d be much stronger,” Conrad said. “I say we leave these matters to state and local governments. Condit is in favor of federalizing them.”

Callahan knows that Condit is a formidable incumbent. In 1994 he took two-thirds of the vote.

“His is easily the toughest race we’ve gotten involved in,” she said. “But this Congress has been so appalling that we thought we had to throw caution to the wind.

“If you want to curry political favor, this isn’t the way to do it. But if you want to talk to the public, this is how you do it these days.”