Riordan’s Campaign Atypical for Republican

In West Hollywood, Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan tells a gay and lesbian group that he might support the kind of same-sex unions legalized in Vermont.

In Oakland, he tells a minority civil rights group that he will “embarrass” the Bush administration if that’s what it takes to get health care money for impoverished Californians. Leaders, Riordan says, must ask themselves every day, “What’s in the interest of the poor?”

It’s a decidedly unorthodox approach to a Republican primary.

Riordan’s leftward tilt on social issues could attract moderates and independents in a general election contest against incumbent Democrat Gray Davis in November, strategists say. But the former Los Angeles mayor risks a backlash by conservative voters in the March 5 primary and beyond.

“It’s astounding,” said Dick Dresner, a longtime pollster for former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. “How do you run on gay rights and things like that in a Republican primary? It makes no sense.”

To the Riordan campaign, its eye on November, the strategy fits both the candidate and the state’s moderate bent.

He has not ignored issues popular with conservatives: So far Riordan has focused largely on fiscal management, public safety and education reform. He has also campaigned in some traditional Republican venues like the Kern County Fair’s Salute to Agriculture in Bakersfield. On Monday, at the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, he proposed cutting the sales tax on manufacturing equipment.

Yet Riordan’s first television commercial does not mention that he’s a Republican; instead, it describes him as “nonpartisan.”

On the campaign trail, Riordan calls Davis “my opponent”--as if the March 5 primary were finished business. Riordan rarely mentions his GOP rivals, California Secretary of State Bill Jones and financier Bill Simon Jr. of Pacific Palisades. He avoids responding when the Jones and Simon campaigns attack.

“We’re strong believers in the 11th commandment: Don’t criticize and take on your fellow Republicans,” said Riordan campaign manager Ron Hartwig.

But to Dresner and other veterans of California politics, Riordan’s campaign stops last week in West Hollywood and Oakland signaled that he’s taking the primary for granted, a potentially dangerous mistake.

“He’s sending a message to the Republican base: Make sure you come out and vote against me,” Dresner said.

For Riordan, the approach has been made easier by his standing in the race. Jones and Simon seem to be a better ideological fit with the state’s activist conservative Republicans--both, unlike Riordan, oppose abortion rights and gun control.

But so far, they have trailed Riordan in fund-raising and the polls. Multimillionaire Simon, though, could still self-finance a competitive television campaign. His showcase supporter, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, is expected to campaign with him in California on Thursday and may appear in Simon’s ads.

Jones, who has no personal fortune to tap, has relied on news coverage of his aggressive attacks on Riordan and, more recently, Davis. Jones has repeatedly argued that Riordan’s close ties to Democrats make him unfit for the Republican nomination. Riordan advisors say the Jones attacks could actually help the former mayor if he wins the nomination.

“It shows Democrats and independents that Riordan is a problem solver first and a partisan second,” said Riordan political director Kevin Spillane.

Riordan’s approach is similar to that of former Gov. Wilson, whose appeals to women and moderates also drew consternation from the party’s conservatives. But Wilson also championed issues important to conservatives and other voters, such as strong anti-crime measures and his controversial but winning stance against illegal immigration.

“The winning path is economic conservatism and social moderation,” said political scientist Bruce Cain of UC Berkeley.

The question is whether, in treading that path, Riordan goes too far for his own party’s voters.

Candidate Calls Prop. 22 ‘Divisive’

In West Hollywood on Wednesday, Riordan told members of ANGLE--Access Now for Gay and Lesbian Equality--that he hoped “to create a Republican Party that is inclusive.”

“Over the course of this campaign, I am going to work hard to give women, Latinos, and gay and lesbian voters a real alternative,” he said.

Riordan recalled that he opposed the Proposition 22 initiative against gay marriages. He called it “an unnecessary and divisive measure that singled out gays and lesbians for discrimination.” Riordan also said he would consider the possibility of supporting same-sex civil unions “as openly as everything.”

A few hours later, Riordan again called for a more “inclusive” party in a visit with Republican women in Pomona. But the dissonance of his message among conservative GOP primary voters was apparent when Norco housewife Kaye O’Mara, 55, said she associates “inclusive” with liberals.

“When you say we need to be inclusive, do you mean we have to give up our values?” she asked the candidate.

“Absolutely not,” Riordan replied. “It means you have to respect other people’s point of view.”

Simon’s chief strategist, Sal Russo, said Riordan’s events in West Hollywood and Oakland were signs of “an extraordinarily dangerous strategy” for a GOP primary.

“They’re not appealing to centrist, moderate Reagan Democrats,” Russo said. “They’re appealing to the most liberal Democrats.”

Riordan, he said, is “sticking it to the conservative base in the party.”

In Oakland on Thursday, Riordan attended the annual dinner of the Greenlining Institute, an advocacy group for civil rights and economic development in poor and minority neighborhoods.

At the dais table with Riordan were two of Northern California’s best-known liberal Democrats, Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland and state Senate leader John Burton of San Francisco. The institute was honoring Lee with its 2002 “Profile in Courage” award partly because she cast the only vote in Congress against a military response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

In his speech, Burton trumpeted his proposal to increase taxes on the rich. When he promised to protect the poor from state budget cuts, Riordan put down his silverware and applauded. After Burton’s speech, Riordan threw an arm around the senator’s shoulder and posed for photographs.

The theme of Riordan’s speech was “empowerment.”

“I want every Californian--no matter their gender, race, creed, color or sexual orientation--to have proper housing, adequate health care and a secure knowledge that the justice system is blind,” Riordan told the mainly black, Latino and Asian audience.

To get health care money for the poor, he said he would “even embarrass our federal government if I have to.”

Sean Walsh, policy director of Jones’ campaign, said Riordan’s stop at the Oakland dinner “sends a good signal that Republicans care about issues important to minorities in California.” Nonetheless, he questioned whether the institute was a suitable group for a GOP candidate to court.

Riordan’s Approach Termed Ignorant

“A lot of people that support that tend to be the Maxine Waters of the world who go out and say unkind things about Republicans,” Walsh said.

Garry South, chief strategist for the Davis’ reelection effort, said Riordan’s approach to the primary showed his “arrogance and ignorance” about California politics.

“To just go out there and poke sticks in the eyes of the voters he’s going to have to count on to win a partisan primary defies logic,” South said.

Riordan, though, said he was simply addressing “issues I very much care about.”

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Staff Writer Matea Gold contributed to this story.