Like Them or Not, These Candidates Got in the Game

As a kid, I quickly learned that the guys you wanted on your team were not necessarily the most athletic, but the most eager. You wanted guys not with the biggest muscles, but the most heart. Not the mopers who would walk off the field when they felt the first raindrops or got bumped in the nose.

You looked for the kids who really wanted to play--and to win.

And so it is as well in the bruising contact sport of politics.

You want candidates with fire in the belly, defined by William Safire in his “New Political Dictionary” as “an unquenchable thirst for power or glory; the burning drive to win a race or achieve a goal.”

They make the best candidates because they run with enthusiasm. And if elected, they’re less likely to goof off or to whine, like so many politicians and athletes, about adversity and their sacrifice.

I thought about this last week when the entry deadline for the gubernatorial race passed and three potential candidates--two stars and a prospect--remained on the sidelines. They didn’t have the fire in the belly to compete. And that caused a lot of bellyaching within the political establishment--mostly among Democrats--about being stuck with the reserves.

We deserve better. What a choice!

Well, time out. Quit the moaning. Like it or not, one of these four people will be California’s next governor: Republican Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, 51; or a Democrat--Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, 55; zillionaire airline exec Al Checchi, 49; or Rep. Jane Harman, 52, of Torrance.

They’ve all got the fire--the energy and the courage--to fight for the most important elective office to be filled in America this year.

And as Checchi campaign manager Darry Sragow points out: “The absolute truth is the republic will survive with any of these four at the helm.”

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Let’s play could’ve-should’ve for a moment.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 64, could have been a great governor. But she’s very comfortable in her current job and dreaded getting roughed up in a gubernatorial race. She was flinching. So Feinstein is better off staying in the Senate, where she excels, and the state probably is better off too.

Leon Panetta, 59--former Monterey congressman and White House chief of staff--had promise. He could have been an excellent governor. But he wasted all last year deferring to fellow Democrat Feinstein. She didn’t bow out until Jan. 20, too late for him to get organized. If Panetta actually had the fire, however, he would have spent last year traveling the state, showing concern for its problems, raising money and positioning himself to run.

L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, 67, teased the news media and basked in the begging before concluding that he was just too comfortable--to run or to serve. “Be careful, you might get what you’re going after,” Riordan said he told himself. “I love California, but Los Angeles is still my No. 1 love.”

Fine. Then he made the right decision to stay there.

But please spare us the spin about how the mayor was a virtual cinch winner. First, he had to beat Lungren for the GOP nomination. Lungren is a good Republican; Riordan is a good Republican mostly in the eyes of Democrats. He endorsed Feinstein in 1994 and didn’t support either the anti-illegal immigration or anti-affirmative action initiatives. He was a fat target for Lungren. Plus, he’s not very good on the stump.

The new open primary certainly would have helped. But we’ll never know whether enough Democrats would have crossed over to nominate Riordan for the Republicans. That’s awfully iffy.

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What we’re left with is a wide-open race.

Polls show Davis leading in the Democratic contest. But Checchi--having already spent more than $4 million of his fortune on TV ads--is moving up fast. In mock general elections, both Davis and Checchi run about even with Lungren.

Harman is the only woman in the race and that’s presumed to be a plus. But she’s a late entry and unknown outside L.A. She urgently needs to develop a compelling message and to spend millions of her own dollars getting it out on TV.

There’s a myth that Harman also is the only moderate running. Davis still gets tagged as a liberal because two decades ago he was Gov. Jerry Brown’s top aide, but basically he’s a moderate. And Checchi? He wants to execute serial rapists. That’s hardly liberal.

We’ve got a race between three experienced pols and an outsider--Checchi--who frequently hasn’t even voted. However, he did spend all last year stumping the state boning up on issues.

Maybe these aren’t the best governors conceivable. But they’re the most eager. They’ve got the fire and really want the job. The others refused to run. It’s time to stop grousing and start choosing.