Antonio, Come Home

In a stunning mix-up, Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, rivals in the May 17 mayoral runoff, appear to have swapped personalities.

Hahn ordinarily owns the bland brand. We wouldn’t go so far as to say he sparkled in Sunday evening’s debate, but for someone whose administrative style runs the gamut from uninspiring to invisible, he came across as commanding and confident. He even pulled off a serviceable Gary Cooper imitation, warning viewers that being mayor requires more than “a fancy smile and a fancy suit.”

That line was intended to inoculate him against Villaraigosa’s famous charisma. But it turned out there was no need. The unsmiling Villaraigosa must have checked his charm at the door, if not deposited it in a blind trust for the duration of the campaign.

Local political junkies are well aware that campaigns tend to invigorate Hahn in a way that governing never has. The latest Times poll may show him running 18 points behind, but the tougher the race, the more determined he seems to win. That was the case when he came from behind to defeat Villaraigosa in 2001, airing an attack ad that all but painted his opponent as a crack-smoking gangbanger for writing a 1996 letter on behalf of a convicted drug dealer.

What is surprising about this campaign is the lesson Villaraigosa learned from that defeat. We just hope he hasn’t over-learned it.

Last time around, he ran a relentlessly upbeat campaign, refusing to criticize Hahn’s tactics or motives. This time he is pointing out Hahn’s failings as well as defending himself against his opponent’s implications that he is soft on crime and too liberal. He needed to do that, but he is going too far in dampening his optimistic message.

What is disappointing is not Villaraigosa’s outspokenness in his own defense but his seeming unwillingness to inspire and energize voters. Villaraigosa on Sunday not only stammered his lines, he repeated them over and over, so determined to stay “on message” that his message is out-blanding Hahn.

In this nonpartisan election, the two candidates are both liberal Democrats, and their stands mostly are indistinguishable, whether the issue be hiring more cops, building more affordable housing or easing gridlock on city streets.

What sets them apart are their styles. And it is here that Villaraigosa’s people skills, his knack for coalition-building and, yes, his charm, are assets. Where was the candidate who saw Los Angeles as a grand experiment, a city that spoke multiple languages but sometimes failed to communicate a common vision?

A political neophyte who unwittingly channel-surfed into Sunday’s televised debate would not have recognized that description of Antonio Villaraigosa. Bring back that cheerleader for Los Angeles.