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Primary Is a Non-Issue for Californians

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TIMES POLITICAL WRITER

So here comes mighty California, where for the first time in decades the upcoming presidential primary might just matter, and the overwhelming sense among voters can be summed up in one word:

Huh?

In a random survey last week of dozens of voters across the state, from Sacramento to San Diego, from the Central Valley to the coastline, Californians were happily ignorant of the political circus about to descend upon them. It’s not that they don’t care, you understand, it’s just that with the job and the kids and the classwork and getting dinner on the table, well, who has the time? There are no vexing issues thumping Californians in the gut, little outrage beyond the simmering concern about the nation’s moral core that often reemerges when economic woes are absent.

The date of the California primary, less than five weeks away on March 7, is a mystery to most. The candidates are known in profile rather than depth, described in snippets reminiscent of one-syllable critics’ blurbs on a movie ad. And as for state issues--just who is running against Democratic incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein anyway?

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“The weather is good and everybody’s got a job,” explained Bill Sweet, a computer technician and--what else?--aspiring screenwriter soaking up the sun on Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. “Politics is not on anybody’s radar.”

That might come as bad news for the candidates, for they will have to work harder to generate enthusiasm by election day. But it is good news for some of them as well, for it suggests that California’s fickle voters could change allegiances any number of times by election day.

While the public polls remain supportive of the national front-runners, Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore, the voters interviewed suggest that support is soft. Republican challenger John McCain, while still only a vague apparition to most, seems to have entranced some voters with his awe-inspiring personal story and blunt campaign style.

“It’s funny, but I’m liking McCain more and more and I’m a Democrat,” said Norma Rulison, a retired mental health counselor in Fresno. “In the primary, I’ll probably vote for Gore but in the big election, I’d vote for McCain if he’s still around. I like his presence, his demeanor. Not any one issue. Just the whole package.”

Views on Bush were split--is he the experienced Texas governor, or a daddy’s boy out to buy the presidency? Bill Bradley was generally well-thought of by those who could place him, but several voters raised concerns about his erratic heartbeat. Gore was loved or hated--most of the time, in direct relation to whether the voters loved or hated Bill Clinton. Fortunately for Gore, Clinton has always been more popular in California than almost anywhere else.

Clinton’s successful handling of the economy was repeatedly cited by those planning to vote for Gore, even as those who are planning to vote for a Republican were motivated at least in part by their distaste for the Clinton presidency.

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“I know [Gore] bends the truth, but I think Clinton did an excellent job as president,” said Craig Miller of Pasadena, who cited the need for continuity as the reason he’s leaning toward Gore.

Removed from Miller by ideology and geography was Gloria Holmes, a homemaker and writer from Newport Beach who wants a new wind to blow through the White House. To her mind, that means Bush.

“His family is about stability and intelligence and morality,” Holmes said. “That’s what we need now.”

Much of Clinton’s popularity, and the attraction of some current presidential contenders, stems from their embrace of the middle road. This state long ago shrugged off the polar influences of the political parties and constructed its own centrist ideology. It is no coincidence that the fastest-growing group of voters in California consists of those who “decline to state” a party preference.

Republican Eric Gradman, a USC student, said he was certain to vote for a candidate from his party on March 7, even though the blanket primary allows voters to choose among candidates of any party when they vote.

“Among Republicans, McCain is the least offensive. None of the others seem as qualified,” Gradman said. “He has the least ideology.”

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While it might seem impossible to Iowans and New Hampshirites who are only now recovering from the presidential cavalcade, much of the race thus far has been conducted below the radar of the average Californian.

TV News Notorious for Ignoring Politics

Most Californians get their news from television, which is notorious for ignoring politics. And even in the last week, when the campaign hit fever pitch in New Hampshire, news of it in California was deflected by Super Bowl hype, the ongoing LAPD scandals and, on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, the crash of the Alaska Airlines jet off the coast of Ventura County.

So the impressions voters carry of the candidates tend to be slightly vague and subject to change. Nonetheless, there were some common sentiments.

Bush, in some quarters, was lauded for his family connections, his wit and his experience as governor of a big state. But his immense bankroll? A Sierra Madre man, who asked to be identified only as Jack T., said he favors McCain over Bush in part because of the Texan’s well-financed campaign.

“I don’t like an election being bought,” he said. “He’s got what, $60 million, $70 million, from what I read in the papers? That’s too much for one candidate to have.”

Perhaps more foreboding for Bush, one voter parsed the difference between the charm that has helped Bush attract supporters and the qualities she wants in a president.

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“He has a lot of charisma, but I don’t know if that means he should be a leader,” said Colleen Dippel, a San Franciscan who taught for three years in Texas, where Bush has made education a major focus of his governorship.

Although he is not nearly as well-known as Bush, McCain’s bare outlines have begun to be seen by Californians in generally flattering profile. “Honest,” said one. “Take charge,” added another. But he has not escaped the skepticism voters attach to all politicians.

“What’s appealing about him is that he says what he feels,” said Frank Giambalvo of Contra Costa County. “But he’s been involved in politics for a lot of years and so I’m sure there’s a lot he owes people.”

Bradley, the other reform-oriented candidate in the race, was more anonymous to the Californians surveyed, perhaps obscured by the blast of publicity that accompanied McCain’s blistering defeat of Bush in New Hampshire.

“There are a few things that Bradley has said that have piqued my interest, but nothing that would sway me,” said Nathaniel Stamps, a registered Republican from Sacramento who is leaning toward Bush.

But several people expressed concern about Bradley’s physical health, which became a campaign issue after it became known that he suffers from chronic heart palpitations.

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“I feel like he’s a contender, but I’m not sure if he can stay in there when push comes to shove,” said Cindy Cohen of Berkeley, who added that she generally votes for Democrats but is considering siding with McCain.

Among Democrats, Gore was far better known, a testament to his rank as vice president, as well as the days--which cumulatively have rolled into months--he has spent here over the last seven years.

Gore strategists in California have long argued that he, alone of the candidates, is a comfortable presence to voters here.

They are counting on voters like Vivian Latino, a Sacramento elementary school aide who says she will probably vote for Gore “just because he’s familiar to me.”

Although he is able to piggyback on Clinton’s still-formidable popularity here, Gore’s association with the first president to be impeached in more than a century is both a blessing and a curse.

“Clinton has opened the door for Gore,” said Joseph Breeding, a restaurant manager in West Los Angeles. “Gore doesn’t have to prove himself. He has an edge over Bush. Bush can make promises, but Gore has already delivered.”

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Yet Bush supporter Wanda Levalley of Kingsburg in Central California dismissed the vice president. “It’s the same song, second verse, as far as I’m concerned,” she said.

Still unknown this far from election day--but potentially important given the impact on voter turnout--will be the enthusiasm with which voters embrace the campaign here. At this point, based on these voters, it is safe to say that many Californians are not looking forward to the coming bombardment of campaign television ads.

Kathy Lamonski, who runs the Fig Garden Bookstore in Fresno, said neither she nor her customers spend much time talking about the campaign.

“I think we’re all so sick of politics that we just don’t pay attention anymore,” she said. “I know I’d be much more likely to listen to the issues if they didn’t spend so much time trashing each other.”

But for the candidates, that’s the problem: In this election year, there are no defining issues, nothing like the down-spiraling economy in 1988 or the Vietnam War 20 years earlier.

The economy is perking along, confidence is brimming. The freeways may be jammed, the schools suspicious, but this is still California. Voters like Steve Kenagy, a conservative and probable Bush supporter from Norco, are happy.

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“The economy is strong and diverse,” he said. “And how about this weather?”

*

Times staff writers Mark Arax, Richard Chon, Bobby Cuza, Matt Ebnet, Kristi Garrett, Mark Gladstone, Tom Gorman, Carl Ingram, Queena Sook Kim, Dan Morain, Tony Perry and Sylvia Pagan Westphal contributed to this story.

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