Will She or Won’t She Run in ‘98?

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein would love to be California’s governor. You can hear it in her voice and read it in her eyes. But she’s still hesitating about running--and she’s probably the one potential candidate who has that luxury.

With the Democratic convention bereft of any intrigue, California delegates are spending a lot of time speculating with reporters about the 1998 gubernatorial race. The conversation almost always opens with the question, “Do you think Dianne will run?”

The consensus both here and at the recent Republican convention--and among veteran political strategists--is that the moderate senator could easily win the Democratic nomination and is the party’s best prospect for beating the expected GOP candidate, Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren.

But it’s anybody’s guess--including her closest advisors--whether she’ll actually get into the race. It would be her fourth statewide contest in five elections.

I put the question to Feinstein during a sit-down interview Monday at the California delegation hotel.

“It would be exciting,” she said of being governor, “but I’m not thinking about it right now . . . not going to think about it until next year. There’s plenty of time.”

But as the senator then acknowledged, she really doesn’t have to be thinking about it much because “I’ve thought about it for a long time.”

Feinstein ran for governor in 1990 and lost narrowly to then-Sen. Pete Wilson. He’s now in his final term. She captured Wilson’s old Senate seat in 1992, trouncing then-Controller Gray Davis in the primary. Davis, now lieutenant governor, already is running hard in the gubernatorial race. Her toughest fight was against Mike Huffington in 1994, when she barely was reelected.

“The bloodiness of the campaign, the size of the state [and getting around it], the harshness of the rhetoric--those are the deciding factors,” she said of 1998. “I’ve run three times [statewide] now. They’ve been brutal, hard campaigns.” And, Feinstein, 63, wouldn’t have to run for reelection to the Senate until 2000.

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But the body language--even with cracked ribs suffered during a slip down some hardwood steps at her Stinson Beach home 10 days ago--signaled she would really like to run for governor.

While noting that “the Senate is not a shabby place to be,” the former San Francisco mayor indicated she prefers being a chief executive. “I like being able to say, ‘Just do it’ and not worry about going out and getting the [congressional] votes.”

“Governor could be the job of a lifetime,” she said, “or it could be a terrible job.”

Indeed, the talk increasingly around Sacramento, even within the Wilson administration, is that California is ungovernable--largely because of a highly partisan Legislature, an influx of illegal immigrants straining public services and a cynical public reluctant to approve bond issues, let alone raise taxes.

“I really believe that if there’s a will, there’s a way,” Feinstein said. California needs a governor who will lead the voters, she continued, one who is “assertive” and “really wants to deal with the future.” Wilson’s focus, she said, “has been on these two big wedge issues [illegal immigration and affirmative action] and not really on building the infrastructure for the future. There isn’t enough classrooms, there isn’t enough housing, transportation is bad. . . .

“California is going into the year 2000 with a completely restructured economy, one that is going to depend on skills to get jobs. . . . This will be one of the biggest races in the country. It’s going to take California into the next century.”

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The speculation has been that if Democrats recapture the Senate, or even the House, Feinstein will be less inclined to leave Congress. She denied it, but acknowledged: “The last session has really been very hard, largely because of the House and the degree to which partisanship developed. I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere.”

There also has been speculation that White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, a former Monterey congressman, will run for governor.

“He called me and said ‘No,’ ” she disclosed. “But you know, who knows? He said he had ‘no intention.’ That can all change.”

Feinstein acted as if she isn’t concerned. Neither is she worried about a late start in fund-raising, even if a ballot initiative imposing tough contribution and spending limits passes in November. Davis anticipates stashing $3 million before November.

“I have a very large [donor] base,” Feinstein said. “Over 300,000. I’m in good shape.”

She sounds like a candidate if I’ve ever heard one.