It’s Time to Tackle the Issues

Now it’s time for some good old-fashioned politicking. On Tuesday, the voters demonstrated that negative campaigning can backfire on the attacker. Let’s hope that lesson carries forward into the general election campaign for governor between Democratic Lt. Gov. Gray Davis and Republican Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren and the U.S. Senate contest between incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer and Republican state Treasurer Matt Fong.

Make no mistake about it, the battle for governor will be a tough one. The candidates are pros. But let it also be an informed campaign of substance and issues, of the problems that face California, of bringing diverse groups together.

The voters opted for experience in office in the contests for both governor and senator. Among them, the four leading candidates have held office at all levels of government for nearly 80 years. They know the issues and they know how government works, or doesn’t. They are smart enough to acknowledge that once in a while they don’t have all the answers. Running government is not a simple or easy thing.

Davis and Lungren already have discussed the idea of a series of debates, although details have not been worked out. They should try a variety of forums. They could discuss the environment under a tree in Yosemite Valley, the economy at the Boeing/McDonnell-Douglas plant in Long Beach, health care at Martin Luther King Jr. hospital in Los Angeles and education at public schools. And there already is an invitation to come to The Times again, as the candidates did in May. It’s time to connect and engage. No prepared statements. No canned, rehearsed answers.

It would be naive to think there will be no sharp attacks between candidates, but keep them to issues, not personalities. There is time to educate voters about the issues of California and how the candidates would approach them. Television stations throughout the state should volunteer to broadcast such events at length. Make this a landmark campaign of truly informed choices by the voters.

A footnote to Tuesday: California voters clearly like the new open primary and had no particular difficulty with the long ballot. This is due in large part to the thoughtful, efficient work of Secretary of State Bill Jones and his staff in organizing the election statewide.