Dancing Around Gore Endorsements

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Not that long ago, asking a Democratic lawmaker if he supported Al Gore would have been like asking porky old President William Taft if he wanted something to eat.

But with Bill Bradley gobbling up media attention and rising in the polls, there is suddenly a sizable number of fence-sitters among the 30 Democrats in the gigantic California congressional delegation.

Which speaks volumes about the 2000 presidential race even if the uncommitted lawmakers aren’t talking.

To date, 17 of California’s 28 House Democrats and both of its Democratic senators have declared their support for Gore, who was supposed to be the anointed one.

Howard Berman of Mission Hills says that it was not a big leap for him to go for Gore. To listen to him, never has a more supreme candidate walked the face of the planet:

“I just think the vice president is the most superbly qualified person who shares my fundamental values, not just among the people running but of anyone at any time who has sought the presidency.”

That said, Howard Berman doesn’t think voters give a hoot about what Howard Berman has to say on this one.

“If I’m endorsing a judge, people care,” he says, “But for president . . . I don’t count.”

Endorsements, in fact, are indicators more than they are predictors in presidential races. Voters do not necessarily follow endorsements, but failure to get them is, for Gore, a signal that something is rotten in Nashville.

Indeed, as interesting as the 17 going for Gore are the 11 who are on the fence. (Not a one has endorsed Bradley.) They are an impressive crowd and include George Miller, Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, Pete Stark, Anna Eshoo, Maxine Waters--congressional heavy hitters from up and down the Golden State.

They are members of, and in some cases head, important House committees; they are powerful fund-raisers; they are influential in the party statewide; they are players in the Democratic establishment in the capital.

Many also happen to be pals--they have served together, flown together and been roomies in Washington apartments.

So what’s this all about?

Well, the pols are not calling back. But this is what Capitol mavens--who know maybe what these undecideds are up to--were saying, with the caveat “please don’t quote me”:

Maven No. 1 giggles: “They’re waiting to see who will win. It’s that simple--they want to be with a winner.”

Maven No. 2 intones:”A lot of them are just waiting to see how Gore shapes up. In politics everyone makes mistakes. The question is: Can you learn from them and recover?”

Maven No. 3 snorts: “Gore keeps coming to California to drop goodies--grants, programs, you name it. And he’s up in the polls. But Californians are notoriously quirky. Bradley could just run over him during the primary and these congressmen don’t want to be on the wrong side of that wave.”

The mavens tick off the conventional wisdom: that Bradley will do well in the Northeast--that he’ll be competitive in New Hampshire, New York and in his own state of New Jersey. All of which makes California that much more important to Gore. It is also why his team has been trying to turn it into their firewall.

Gore has already been to California a whopping 59 times since he has been vice president. He even jokes about potential citizenship. One Los Angeles congressman keeps bumping into the veep in his district. “He’s spending more time in California than in Washington.”

Bradley’s team, on the other hand, is quietly turning non-endorsements into a type of victory, as in: If the whole establishment wing of the party is not going for Gore, what does that say?

Apparently, Bradley does not see endorsements as a priority. “Bradley’s making calls,” says one of his senior aides, “but he’s not real aggressive. It’s just not Bradley’s game.”

The aide then goes on a riff that sounds more Silicon Valley than up this political alley: “Gore is IBM and we’re Apple. Their game is the establishment. That’s not our game. Our game is to try to get more market share on IBM by being better, tougher, leaner.”

The Gore people are ready to have the last laugh.

“There is only so long you can claim victory in not getting an endorsement,” says a Gore man. He reminds a reporter that their endorsement list is also impressive and, in addition to Berman, includes Capitol heavy hitters such as Robert T. Matsui, Julian C. Dixon and Xavier Becerra, the former head of the House Hispanic Caucus who got on board early with Gore.

Both sides agree that competition, painful as it can be, is probably good for the voters. It’s like when a guy opens a deli next to one that’s been there forever. Suddenly, the price of pastrami starts dropping and you are getting a free soda and bag of potato chips with lunch.

Zoe Lofgren of San Jose, who is backing Gore, explains the range of reasons influencing her noncommittal colleagues.

“In some cases, once you endorse, then everybody wants you to raise a gazillion dollars,” she says, adding that there are also Democrats who have a personal relationship with Bradley that makes endorsing Gore awkward, and still others who have a beef with the VP that needs to get resolved.

Then she catches her breath and gets down to the business of politics, which of course has to do with high school; all of life comes to down high school.

“In some cases,” she concludes, “they just want to be asked. And asked. And asked again. It’s a dance and we didn’t have a prom in my high school.”

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Times staff writer Alan Miller contributed to this column.