Checchi’s Campaign on Track in Gathering Latino Support

There’s an old political saying made famous in the 1960s by the Kennedys and just as relevant today: Better get on the train before it leaves the station.

The saying is a promise. Join the campaign early and we’ll remember you when we pass out the goodies after the election. It’s also a warning. Miss the train and we’ll never forget.

Incoming Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and his ally and friend Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg of Sherman Oaks boarded Al Checchi’s train long before it left the station. You might say Checchi was still stocking the dining car and cleaning the seats when the two lawmakers joined the millionaire businessman’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor.

This was something of a coup for the then-

unknown Checchi. Although he was a rank outsider, he was beginning the race with the support of these two members of the Capitol establishment.

Just as important, the backing of Villaraigosa and Hertzberg, who is a non-Latino force in Latino politics, was evidence that Checchi’s intensive campaign for the growing Latino vote might pay off.

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Earlier this week, I went over to Checchi’s Mid-Wilshire campaign office to find out how hesnared Villaraigosa and Hertzberg.

It’s a new-style headquarters for the new politics, looking like an advertising agency, perfect for a campaign that is being run largely through television commercials. A small sign, issued by the building management, said only “Checchi Committee.”

I rang the bell and a receptionist buzzed me in. A nice-looking man in a black knit shirt and casual pants came over. I thought he was one of the workers. “Hi,” he said, holding out his hand, “I’m Al Checchi.”

For the interview, he took me to the downstairs Marie Callender’s to talk and have a caffe latte. I thought he was smart and articulate, but this is before he faces the full pressure of a big league campaign.

I asked him about his campaign in Latino communities.

Checchi looked almost as pleased at enlisting Villaraigosa and Hertzberg as he must have been when he took over Northwest Airlines, an investment that earned him more than half a billion dollars.

Villaraigosa is the best known of the two backers. But Hertzberg, an attorney, has been a top fund-raiser and strategist in several Latino political campaigns. Hertzberg’s wife, UCLA professor Cynthia Telles, is a prominent member of the Latino community. He and Villaraigosa share living quarters in Sacramento.

Checchi said, “I met Antonio a couple of times, and it was very substantive. We really talked.”

“Antonio volunteered to endorse me. I was actually quite surprised,” he said.

Soon, Checchi will be backed by another powerful Los Angeles Latino pol, Senate Democratic Leader Richard Polanco. “I am 100% going to endorse him,” Polanco told me. “He has taken our community seriously.”

I heard a lot of reasons why some--although not all--Latino pols are backing Checchi. The candidate said Latinos identify with his own roots: He’s the grandson of Italian immigrants whose family struggled to make good. Assemblywoman Martha M. Escutia (D-Bell), who is leaning toward Checchi, said he represents the entrepreneurial spirit beloved by many Latinos. “We all want to make it,” she said. “We all want to be heads of our corporations.”

There also are hard-headed political reasons that Checchi is enjoying the early Latino support. Financing his own campaign, he won’t draw money away from legislative campaigns, as have past Democratic candidates.

And, said Villaraigosa, “I think he’s the Democrat with the best chance of winning.”

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Whatever the reason, Checchi appreciates it. He told me: “I thought it was a very courageous action on [Villaraigosa’s] part, prescient in that I think that this is going to work out for him. Back then, he showed a great deal of perception.”

I admired the use of the phrase “a great deal of perception.”

There was a Kennedy tone of understatement about it.

It made me wonder what will happen, in the event Checchi wins, to those who weren’t as perceptive.