What’s in the Letter J? Harman’s Hopes

Minimalism is in. Furniture is all straight lines and cool edges. Appliances are shorn of ornamentation. So too, apparently, are some political candidates.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, bearer of one of the more famous names in the hemisphere, has metamorphosed as she seeks the U.S. Senate seat in New York. Now, she is Hillary. No Rodham, no Clinton. Just Hillary, plain and simple, sleek as the black suits she wears on the campaign trail. Evidence comes in two of her more recent press releases: “Hillary Visits the Adirondacks,” four days after “Hillary Announces Plan to Allocate the Federal Budget Surplus.”

Since we are always ahead of the curve in California, it will comfort you to know that here we have a candidate who has one-upped even the First Lady, a candidate who is almost as trendy in her choice of logos as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince. She is experienced, she is running for Congress, and she might just win. She is:

J! It is hard to imagine many candidates getting away with it. Gray Davis would have been laughed at had he campaigned simply as Gray. Running as Gray! or, heaven help us, G! would have been, at the least, a contradiction between personality and punctuation.

Clinton! or Bill! would have called to mind one too many domestic disputes--as in, Bill! What were you thinking?

Gore! or Al! suggest attempts to awaken a candidate from sleep induced by his own speeches. Bush! might be the utterance of a mirage-teased desert wanderer, or of a Republican Party nearly desperate for a win.

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The exclamation point did find its place in the sun in a recent presidential contest. In 1996, former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander shucked both his last name and his dark-toned suits to run for the Republican nomination. He was reborn Lamar!, a candidate who coursed around New Hampshire in red-and-black plaid shirt, the pattern of which formed the cover of his 1998 “Little Plaid Book” of advice. (He ignored rule No. 59: “If it was a mistake and you did it, admit it, and don’t do it again.” Undeterred, he followed his 1996 defeat with an even worse showing in this year’s contest.)

Which brings us to J!, another candidate cursed by fate the last time out, and now trying to work her way back.

J! is Jane Harman, the three-term member of Congress who gave up her South Bay seat in 1998 to run for governor. She lost the Democratic primary to Gray Davis, and her congressional seat went to Republican Steve Kuykendall. Now she is back, hoping that history will reverse course. She is a smart, tough, rich lawyer, a veteran of Washington politics since before the Carter administration. So what’s with the J!?

“It’s a logo designed to communicate the excitement of her candidacy,” said spokesman Roy Behr. He noted that Harman, apparently well ahead of the times, has used J! since her initial congressional campaign in 1992.

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Strange though it may seem, there is evidence that voters pay attention to things like J!

In the case of Lamar!, the unusual moniker and plaid shirts combined to set Alexander apart from the rest of the pack haunting eventual nominee Bob Dole. The second time he ran--under the more traditional “Alexander for President” tag--the novelty was over, though his defeat had more to do with a loss of dollars than of exclamation points.

Particularly in these issueless, personality-driven times, voters gravitate to the quick sound bite, the brief phrase that memorably characterizes the candidate. It’s easier than actually paying attention.

But there are limits. Al Gore can use “You can call me Al” as a campaign song, as he has in the past, but if he tried Al! he would probably be accused of trying too hard. Which, actually, is already an oft-heard Gore criticism.

Democrat Behr argues that logos and slogans--Harman’s 2000 slogan is “Our Views, Our Values”--and other devices for advancing a candidate have to synchronize with the candidate’s personality. If they don’t, you can just look silly.

“The fundamental difference between Lamar! and J! is that J! is accurate,” said J!’s spokesman. “It’s one thing to take a stiff and put an exclamation point on him and call it a message. It’s another to take a truly dynamic individual who does fire up crowds and put on an exclamation point.” Not surprisingly, that judgment divides along party lines. “After the failed governor run, J! sounds kind of flaky, on the surface,” said a quizzical Steve Schmidt, Alexander’s former spokesman.

As for Harman’s Republican opponent, Kuykendall, he has his hands full running against a former incumbent who will probably have more money than he will. So far, he has only one campaign adage, an aide said:

“Steve Kuykendall for Congress.”