Lungren, Davis Spar on Abortion, Gun Control

Dan Lungren and Gray Davis sparred Friday over their differences--real and exaggerated--on issues ranging from abortion to Indian gaming, as the gubernatorial contenders staged a polite but pointed midsummer night’s debate.

The meeting, the first one-on-one encounter between Republican Lungren and Democrat Davis, produced no gaffes, major policy initiatives or other developments likely to dramatically affect a race still weeks from hitting its stride.

Atty. Gen. Lungren, trailing Lt. Gov. Davis in the polls, was the aggressor throughout most of the 55-minute session. Lungren repeatedly portrayed his rival as a candidate whose campaign rhetoric stands diametrically opposed to his record, on issues from the death penalty to U.S.-Mexico relations.

“Talk is cheap,” Lungren asserted at one point, adding in his closing remarks: “You need someone who does things, not just says things.”

The more phlegmatic Davis sought to paint Lungren as outside California’s political mainstream with his opposition to abortion and past support for offshore oil drilling.

Implying guilt by association, Davis suggested that the company Lungren keeps with “his friends”--House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove)--is “a pretty good example of the direction he would like to take [the state] if he could.”

Despite such barbs, the session yielded a mutual pledge to try to avoid the relentlessly negative tone of the primary campaign, with both candidates promising to effectively vet any negative advertising by first presenting their lines of attack in forums like Friday’s. Four more debates are planned, the next on Aug. 18 in Fresno.

Friday’s event also produced something rare in California politics, aside from a never-before-seen July debate: a relatively deep discussion of substantive issues, peppered with only occasional potshots and snide asides.

The debate, held at the downtown San Diego Convention Center, was co-sponsored by the California Manufacturers Assn. and the California Labor Federation.

Among the differences that emerged during the event, carried live on radio and TV in most of California, was one over the state budget.

Davis said that as governor he would seek legislation forcing lawmakers to forfeit their pay for each day the budget missed the July 1 constitutional deadline. But Lungren opposed “artificial means of forcing adults to act as adults” and said that sometimes a late budget is better than a bad budget. (The state spending plan is now 32 days overdue.)

On the Indian gaming issue, Lungren said he opposes Proposition 5, a measure on the Nov. 3 ballot that would allow casino-type gambling on Indian lands. He said the measure would improperly take the issue out of the hands of state lawmakers. Davis, for essentially the same reason, declared himself neutral on the measure.

On education--despite their assertion of vast differences--the two largely agreed on such measures as statewide testing, an end to “social promotion” of failing students, and greater accountability for school administrators and teachers. Lungren reiterated his support for vouchers that would allow the use of public tax dollars to pay private school tuition and said he favors incentive pay for math and science teachers.

Although Lungren was sweating profusely, it was Davis who spent most of the time on the defensive. Predictably, their greatest differences revolved around emotional issues such as the death penalty, gun control and abortion.

Although the two sparred twice during the primary, both sessions included Davis’ fellow Democrats Al Checchi and Jane Harman and were limited to questions from a panel of journalists, or from members of the debate audience. In a departure from those two sessions, Davis and Lungren had the opportunity Friday night to directly question one another, producing some of the testiest exchanges.

While noting that Davis says he has “always” favored the death penalty, Lungren cited past instances when Davis, either independently or during his seven years as chief of staff to former Gov. Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr., appeared to oppose it.

“When,” Lungren demanded, “does ‘always’ mean always?”

Davis, who remained perfectly cool and coiffed beneath the blazing TV lights, responded by citing his endorsement from “80,000 rank-and-file police officers” who backed him over the state’s top cop. “They would not be here standing with me if they doubted for one iota that I care very deeply about the toughest imaginable sanctions for violent criminals,” he said.

To which Lungren responded: “My question was how come you opposed the death penalty when you were working for Jerry Brown” as well as years later in Davis’ career, “not whether or not you were supported by certain unions.”

But Davis, giving no ground, suggested that “Singapore is a good starting point in terms of law and order,” referring to one of the most regimented societies on earth. The lieutenant governor said he did not recall the two instances of voting as a legislator against the death penalty, as Lungren accused him of doing.

Given his chance to quiz the attorney general, Davis attacked his votes in Congress against myriad social programs, asking how Californians could trust the GOP nominee on education issues, given his “appalling” record.

Lungren replied that his votes were part of an effort to devolve programs away from Washington to the states and suggested that the cuts were needed to try to balance the federal budget.

“Yes, it’s tough to make controversial, tough decisions,” he said. “I’m willing to do that. That’s what it takes to be a successful governor, not to pander all the time.”

Somewhat surprisingly, it was Lungren who homed in on abortion--an issue Davis hopes to use to paint his rival as extreme. In a turnabout, Lungren asked Davis whether he wasn’t extreme by opposing measures such as requiring parental consent for a minor seeking an abortion or opposing late-term, “partial birth” abortions.

Davis said he opposes the “partial birth” procedure except when a woman’s health is at stake. “On the core issue, we are in fundamental disagreement,” Davis continued. “I trust a woman who in concert with her own god, her own doctor and her own conscience comes to a decision. . . . You don’t trust a woman to make that decision, and you want the government to make it for her.”

Davis went on the offensive on gun control, accusing Lungren of failing to adequately enforce the state’s law banning assault-style weapons. “A judge said you put 16,000 more weapons on the street,” Davis charged, referring to a court ruling last week that found that Lungren violated state law by registering thousands of assault weapons after a legislatively imposed 1992 deadline.

Lungren responded by saying he has done the best job he can with a poorly written law.

Another of the most pointed exchanges involved the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement.

Davis, a good friend of labor, was neutral on the measure that unions bitterly opposed. Now a strong supporter of trade with Mexico, he was asked by a panelist about his seeming change of heart. “Well, NAFTA is already the law of the land. I don’t know that it profits a lot of us to go back and say, ‘Where were you on something that took place five years ago?’ ” Davis replied.

But Lungren, noting that his rival has repeatedly vowed to improve relations with Mexico through frequent visits as governor, said Davis failed to participate in an October 1996 trade mission that fell under his purview as lieutenant governor. Instead, Lungren pointed out, Davis was in New York City raising money for his gubernatorial bid.

After Fresno, three more debates will be held after Labor Day, in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento.

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Facing Off

Gubernatorial candidates Gray Davis and Dan Lungren held the first of five planned debates before the November election. “Gray, let’s get it on,” Lungren said in his opening remarks. Davis responded, “You got it.”

OPENING STATEMENTS

Dan Lungren

* The question is will we have the same courage, the same commitment, the same dedication, the same sense of values that [our parents] had to allow our young people, our children, the same opportunities we had. We can give them an opportunity to surmount any obstacles so long as we give them the same foundation our parents gave us.

Gray Davis

* My parents impressed upon me that I had a duty to give something back to society. I can think of no better way of giving back to society than to fix our schools. I believe in the high-expectation approach to education. I will hold teachers, students, principals and parents accountable to world-class standards that I will institute.

ON THE BUDGET

Dan Lungren

I’m not sure you need artificial means of forcing adults to act like adults, you need political courage. One of the things you need to do from the outset of your adminstration is to make it very clear that your goal is to have a budget on time, perhaps early. There’s one thing worse than a late budget, that is a bad budget.

Gray Davis

* The most important thing that people are sent to Sacramento to do is to pass a budget. I would, as governor, fight for a constitutional amendment forcing all elected officials to forfeit--not postpone, but forfeit--a day’s pay for every day that the budget is late.

ON CRIME

Dan Lungren

* My department has taken 18,000 thugs off the street from those kinds of thugs that shouldn’t have them, we have arrested thousands of peope in the process. We have on the order of 37,000 denials of purchase of weapons in my office, we’ve also worked for the 10-20-life bill.

Gray Davis

* I’m proud to have the support of the San Diego Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. These are rank and file people who believe I believe in tougher sanctions for violent criminals. I have always believed in the death penalty, I have put myself in harm’s way in Vietnam.... That is something they do every day. They’re standing toe-to-toe with me in this campaign. I know that may be a source of embarrassment to you, since you are the chief law enforcement official in the state

ON ABORTION

Dan Lungren

* [On parental consent for abortions for minors] The belief that parents and the family unit are more dangerous to a child than government or an unknown doctor or unknown nurse or unknown counselor strikes at the very essence of the cornerstone of our society--that is the family. And that idea that that can be taken from a family member, taken from a parent, frankly is abhorrent.

Gray Davis

* On the core issue (of abortion), we are in fundamental disagreement. I trust a woman who, in concert with her own god, her own doctor and her own conscience comes to a decision on the most personal and delicate thing that involves a woman’s health. You don’t trust a woman to make that decision, you want the government to make it for her.

Excerpts from the gubernatorial debate held in San Diego.

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Researched by NONA YATES / Los Angeles Times