Lining Up for the GOP Loser’s Derby in Feinstein Race

Somebody has to do it--be the masochistic, sacrificial lamb for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s reelection romp next year.

They were lining up for the privilege at a Republican state convention over the weekend, hosting receptions and scattering fliers in an effort to recruit supporters for the March 7 primary.

State Sen. Ray Haynes of Riverside. Supervisor Bill Horn of San Diego County. Businessman James “JP” Gough of Santa Ana.

Who?

Most of the idle talk was about a better known, potential candidate who wasn’t there--U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell of Santa Clara County.

Campbell gave up a House seat and ran for a Senate nomination in 1992, losing by 2.4 percentage points to conservative TV commentator Bruce Herschensohn. Now back in the House, the congressman is thinking seriously about running again. He isn’t talking publicly, but privately he’s consulting pols and studying polls.

It may be up or out for Campbell, 47. In 2001, a Democratic reapportionment in Sacramento could obliterate his House district.

He’s too moderate for most party activists--favors abortion rights and gun control--but after the GOP debacles of the last two elections, the ideologues may be thinking more pragmatically.

“I’ve never met so many hungry conservatives in my life,” observed veteran GOP consultant Allan Hoffenblum. “They hunger for a win and it’s making them more practical every day.”

Campbell would benefit from California’s new open primary, which he helped orchestrate, because the centrist could attract votes from moderate Democrats and independents. Meanwhile, Haynes and Horn would split the conservative vote.

As the GOP nominee, Campbell might make it a real race instead of a Feinstein romp.

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But right now, the leading Republican contenders are Haynes and Horn.

Running against Campbell “would be great,” Haynes insists. “It would raise my visibility. There’d be a rare, dramatic [philosophical] choice. I’d pay his filing fee.”

Haynes formally announced his candidacy at the convention in a small meeting room adorned with patriotic bunting, campaign posters and wall-to-wall supporters. “There will be some folks who think I’m a nut for taking on Dianne Feinstein,” he said. “But a majestic oak tree is nothing more than a nut that stood its ground.”

“Go Ray, go,” they shouted.

“Go reggae,” piped one young man, obviously a Jamaican music buff.

Haynes, 45, is a hard-core conservative: anti-abortion, anti-gun control, anti-taxes. Those are the issues that motivate party activists, he says. “If you run away from those issues, you lose these people.”

He’s deeply religious, a Protestant who believes that “politics is God’s calling in my life.” When Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale) decided last spring not to run for the Senate, that was the Lord’s signal the path was clear for him, Haynes says. “I have been successful in politics because God has opened the door at the appropriate time.”

He admits to having “started out in the pro-life movement, quite frankly, for the publicity.” That was in 1983 when his law practice was struggling. Haynes accepted a high-profile, pro-life case and “because of the publicity, I pulled in a bunch of clients. But that led me into the movement and introduced me to my faith. I became convinced that inside the womb is a child.”

Horn, 56, an avocado grower, shares many of Haynes’ conservative views, but notably not his anti-abortion fervor. Horn doesn’t think the federal government should be involved, either in funding abortions or trying to ban them. “Government should be out of it.”

Like Haynes, Horn contends that Feinstein has been too cozy with China, which he considers a threat. A decorated Marine artillery captain in Vietnam, Horn’s No. 1 priority is rebuilding America’s armed forces. “They’re in deplorable shape.”

Unlike Campbell, Haynes and Horn both have political “free rides.” They can run without giving up their present offices, using the contest to build name ID, then bid for some statewide office in 2002.

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Feinstein, 66, seems a slam-dunk for reelection. She did six years ago, too, Republicans point out. But the Democrat barely escaped with a two-point squeaker over then-Rep. Mike Huffington.

Huffington, however, spent $30 million of his own money to trash Feinstein. Also, that was a big Republican year.

“She can be beaten,” says Ken Khachigian, who was Huffington’s chief strategist. “I’m not saying I’d put money on it right now.”

Things could happen--Feinstein could upset voters by accepting a vice presidential nomination, unforeseen events could change issues and Campbell could run.