Sen. Boxer Formally Kicks Off Reelection Campaign

Sounding themes that helped her win an uphill victory in 1992, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer officially began her reelection campaign Tuesday by vowing to “keep the California spirit alive for generations to come.”

To audiences here and in San Diego, Burbank and Sacramento, the 57-year-old California Democrat pledged continued support for gun control, abortion rights, environmental protection laws, aid to education, and an activist role for the federal government in tackling the nation’s economic and social problems.

Although she stopped short of using the classic Democratic slogan “Happy Days Are Here Again,” Boxer boasted of the progress made since she and fellow Democrats President Bill Clinton and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein were elected in 1992.

“I’m proud that, in five years, we’ve gone from the depths of recession to the strongest economic growth and the lowest inflation in decades,” Boxer said. “As I stand here today, I can tell you that the spirit of California is alive and well. We came back from the worst recession since the Great Depression.”

In a line that prompted applause at every stop, Boxer said she has introduced a bill to help medical patients fight their health maintenance organizations and to prohibit such organizations from keeping doctors from telling patients about certain expensive treatments.

“I will fight to pass the HMO Bill of Rights so that no one is ever denied quality health care because some HMO was only looking at the bottom line,” she said.

Boxer promised to fight for more money for child care and for research into cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer’s disease, and for tax relief for families with child care bills and health insurance bills.

“Everything I am talking about--every fight, every priority, every targeted tax cut--is all within the context of a balanced budget,” she said. “One that keeps the economic fundamentals strong and gives us a sound Social Security and Medicare system.”

Boxer is expected to draw opposition from the National Rifle Assn. and other 2nd Amendment supporters but shows no signs of backing down on her effort to ban certain kinds of “junk guns.”

“Gunshot wounds are the No. 1 cause of death among children in California,” she said. “We must be brave and defend our children from this epidemic of violence. No matter who comes out against me in my election, I will stand and fight to keep our children safe.”

Boxer has no opposition in the Democratic primary but is already under fire from the three Republicans--car alarm magnate Darrell Issa, state Treasurer Matt Fong and Rep. Frank Riggs of Windsor--who hope to oppose her in the general election.

Issa’s campaign sent two operatives to Boxer’s speech in San Diego. One suggested to reporters that Boxer is only pretending to be interested in cutting taxes when she actually voted to raise taxes and increase federal spending.

A spokesman for Fong telephoned reporters traveling with Boxer to make much the same allegation. “Barbara Boxer has consistently voted to raise the taxes of middle-class families and senior citizens,” the spokesman said.

Boxer, talking to reporters while traveling by van from San Francisco to Sacramento, said that she expects such attacks and that they are factually incorrect.

“It’s straight out of the 1994 playbook [the year of the GOP’s ‘contract with America’], but it doesn’t really match up,” she said. “They’re creating their own vision of who I am and they’ve never met me.”

The fall campaign will be “mainstream versus the extreme. I’m in the mainstream and I have the record to back it up.” In 1992, Boxer also criticized her Republican opponent as an extremist.

The fall campaign, and the primary leading to it, will be expensive.

In 1992, Boxer, then a five-term congresswoman from Marin County, spent $10.6 million while defeating conservative television commentator Bruce Herschensohn by 5 percentage points. It was the most spent by any Senate candidate that year.

This year, Boxer’s campaign estimates the costs at $17 million to $20 million. Boxer supports federal efforts to curb campaign spending but is not willing to unilaterally impose such limits on herself while others, particularly multimillionaire Issa, are unfettered by limits.

“We need campaign reform, so I don’t have to spend half my time calling perfect strangers and saying, ‘Hello, how’s El Nino? Can you write me a check?’ ” she said at a fund-raising event in Sacramento on Tuesday night.

An aide told reporters that the cost of a statewide “blanket,” to ensure that a television commercial is seen and remembered by voters, can cost millions.

The Boxer campaign is looking for money in large and small ways. President Clinton will headline a fund-raiser Feb. 28 for Boxer in Bel-Air, to be attended by show business luminaries such as Whoopi Goldberg and Ellen DeGeneres.

At the other end of the scale, the campaign is selling $10 T-shirts that resemble those sold by touring rock groups. “Sen. Barbara Boxer. The Road to Victory Announcement Tour 1998,” the shirts say, listing all 13 cities she will visit this week. And, yes, the campaign is also selling “Boxer Shorts,” for $15.