Riordan Defends GOP Credentials

Besieged by his two primary rivals, Richard Riordan vigorously defended his age, abortion stance and Republican credentials Saturday in a sharp-elbowed debate before a raucous crowd at the state GOP convention.

In one hour and the confines of a ballroom, the fight for the Republican gubernatorial nomination was distilled to its essence: Should the party trim its conservative principles to better position itself for November’s general election?

Bill Jones and Bill Simon Jr., who trail the more moderate Riordan in the polls, insisted that fealty to philosophy was the thing that mattered most.

“We’re a party of principle,” businessman Simon said, to wide applause from the lunch crowd of 850 of the GOP’s most faithful followers. “We don’t need to nominate someone just because the chattering elite say he can win.”

“You have to have more than just the name ID,” echoed Jones, California’s secretary of state. “You have to believe in the basic philosophy of the Republican Party.”

But former Los Angeles Mayor Riordan, saying he has been a Republican “all my life,” parried that the party would be stuck in permanent minority status in California until it shows a greater tolerance for a diversity of views.

Citing the fractious abortion issue, Riordan said the party’s official stance opposing legalized abortion tells “millions of women: Don’t support the Republican Party.... We have to respect people who differ from us.”

Riordan, who has been battered by Democratic Gov. Gray Davis over whether his stance on abortion is as moderate as he claims, explained his position this way: “I very strongly dislike abortion. But I just as strongly respect the right of a woman to make a choice with respect to her own body.”

For their part, Simon and Jones reiterated their opposition to legalized abortion, with Jones citing exceptions in the cases of rape, incest or to spare the life of the mother.

As the front-runner with just over three weeks to go until the March 5 primary, Riordan was confronted at virtually every turn.

He was forced to defend his oversight of the Los Angeles Police Department during eight years as mayor as well as his financial support for Democratic candidates and causes over the years.

He twice expressed regrets: for a 1991 interview calling abortion murder--a moment highlighted in one of Davis’ TV ads--and for giving a $1,000 contribution to liberal Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) in 1991.

“Until my dying day I will regret that,” Riordan said to cheers and laughter.

The other candidates spent time back on their heels as well.

Jones was forced to defend his support for a $7-billion tax hike under Republican Gov. Pete Wilson in the depths of the early 1990s recession, when Jones was an assemblyman. At the time, Jones said, the state’s shortfall was roughly 30% to 40% of the state budget, compared with 12% today. That is the key difference, he said.

“I think the real difference is Bill now is running for governor,” Simon shot back.

The Pacific Palisades millionaire, making his first run for political office, abjectly apologized for his failure to vote in several of the party’s past primary elections. “I have no excuse,” he said. “I should have voted.”

Debate Turns Personal at Times

The debate, the second among the GOP’s three top contenders, proved a far more lively meeting than the first, held last month just a few miles away on the San Jose State University campus.

The session Saturday was the luncheon special at the party’s semiannual convention, and the audience members cheered, hooted, jeered and chortled despite an admonition at the start to refrain from any demonstrations until the end of the program.

Whether goaded by the crowd or the oncoming election day, the candidates engaged in several pungent exchanges.

One turned highly personal when Simon chided the ex-mayor for failing to provide a detailed state budget plan and also questioned his tax-cutting credentials.

Riordan, clearly agitated, noted that he and Simon were fellow parishioners at St. Monica’s Catholic Church in Santa Monica. Turning to face his rival, Riordan said, “I think you ought to be ashamed about the folklore that came out of your mouth.”

Later, at a post-debate news conference, Simon shrugged off that admonition. “You’re going to have to highlight differences between the candidates,” said Simon, who has been hesitant throughout most of the campaign to do so.

At another point in the debate, the 71-year-old Riordan used humor to lance a question about his age and physical aptitude.

Quoting a line that President Ronald Reagan famously used in 1984 against the younger Walter Mondale, Riordan told the questioner--Cy Musiker of KQED radio--he would not hold his youth and inexperience against him.

“I know much more today than I did when I was your age,” Riordan told the 49-year-old Musiker, to laughs and applause. “And I learn something new every day.”

The candidates, wearing identical-looking dark suits, white shirts and muted ties, slipped comfortably into the roles they have played throughout the primary.

Jones, who has spent 20 years in politics and stands as the sole Republican left in statewide office, repeatedly touted his years of loyal service to the party and his experience in Sacramento.

He praised his role pushing the state’s “three-strikes” anti-crime legislation and sarcastically welcomed Riordan and Simon to the GOP convention, expressing hope they would find cause to come again.

“It is not enough to come to the party only when you need the party,” Jones said. “It is not enough, Dick, to come to the party with a record of giving to Democrats.”

The only way to beat Davis, Jones said, was with a candidate “who has a message and who has a record. I have that.”

Simon called himself the “candidate of ideas” and the only one of those running who has produced detailed proposals on such issues as economic stimulus, schools and the state’s aging infrastructure.

True to his free-market philosophy, he repeatedly extolled the virtues of the private sector over government. “I think that private solutions should be emphasized to the greatest degree possible,” Simon said.

He was pressed by one of the media panelists about his conservative stance on issues such as abortion and gun control. Although those stands appeal to core Republican voters, they would seem to resonate less well with the rest of the state’s more moderate electorate.

Asked how he would broaden his appeal in a general election, Simon replied that his policies on the economy, education and such workaday matters as water and traffic congestion “will help all Californians.”

Riordan emphasized his nonpartisan stewardship of Los Angeles, citing the city’s eight straight balanced budgets--required by law--and said he would bring a similarly pragmatic approach to Sacramento.

He called himself the most electable Republican in November, saying that was why Davis has launched an unusual series of preemptive attack advertisements in the midst of the GOP primary.

Riordan also defended the LAPD, saying the officers involved in the Rampart scandal were rogue exceptions to an otherwise upstanding force. “To taint the whole Police Department with that is wrong,” Riordan said.

Some Trouble Within the Party

Feelings have turned raw among Republicans as the race has progressed. That was highlighted at a news conference on the eve of Saturday’s debate, when former Republican Gov. George Deukmejian--a Jones backer--and several other GOP luminaries said they would not support Riordan should he win the nomination on March 5.

Deukmejian has a particularly personal gripe against Riordan, who lavishly funded his rival, Tom Bradley, when the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles waged two futile runs for governor in the 1980s.

Asked during the debate about Deukmejian’s comments, Riordan said, “George has a bad memory. The only things he remembers are his grudges.”

The statement drew gasps and groans from the audience, and at a news conference afterward, Riordan expressed regrets for the third time Saturday. He called it a failed stab at humor that “didn’t go over too well.”

The candidates will debate for the third and final time Wednesday, when they meet at Cal State Long Beach.

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Times staff writer Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this report.