Wilson Is Both Ally, Obstacle for Lungren

Lame-duck governors, by definition, are supposed to go quietly. George Deukmejian stepped aside in 1990 with open longing for the relative peace of private life. Even Jerry Brown, never quiet about much, spent his last year in office in 1982 brushing aside state issues as he lined up Senate and presidential bids.

But in his last year as governor, Pete Wilson is going out with a bang. The tenacious and often combative Republican is twisting arms in state budget negotiations, tussling with President Clinton on the environment and bragging roundly about the state’s economic comeback--intent on burnishing both his legacy and a potential presidential bid.

All of which complicates the life of Dan Lungren. After aiming for the big time for 20 years, the GOP gubernatorial nominee finally has his turn under the lights--only to find it a very crowded place.

Lungren, for example, recently proposed rolling back the state’s car tax, an issue that, not incidentally, helped elect a Republican as governor of Virginia in 1997 and that Lungren hopes to ride to success in November. But since his announcement, the issue has been co-opted by Wilson, who has made it the centerpiece of his budget proposal.

“Pete Wilson has redefined the term ‘lame duck’ and done it in a way that makes ‘lame’ the wrong word,” Lungren’s campaign manager David Puglia said, laughing.

Puglia and other Lungren allies insist that Wilson’s high profile will help the attorney general because the governor can mold public opinion to Lungren’s benefit. Wilson, they argue, is particularly credible on education, crime and taxes, the issues most important to voters this year.

But Lungren’s opponent, Democratic Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, is salivating at Wilson’s presence. He has steadily heaved insults at Wilson, hoping that the governor’s past unpopularity will turn off voters. At the same time, he hopes that Wilson’s relative moderation on some social issues will help him persuade voters that Lungren’s views are extreme.

“If I had my druthers, I’d have the two join themselves at the hip and hop all over California,” said Davis’ campaign manager, Garry South.

Crafting an Individual Image

In many ways, the relationship between Wilson and Lungren--and their occasionally colliding efforts to stake out issues--echo what happens any time a member of one political party attempts to succeed another. There is, of necessity, tight choreography in which the junior partner tries to ride on the successes of the senior, while politely distancing himself in areas of disagreement.

In 1988, then-Vice President George Bush spent much of his campaign getting out from under the formidable shadow of President Ronald Reagan without angering Reaganites. He ultimately portrayed himself as a “kinder and gentler” candidate--never saying compared with whom. Similarly, Vice President and future presidential candidate Al Gore will soon have to craft an image separate from President Clinton--while hoping that some of Clinton’s record-breaking popularity rubs off on him.

Even Wilson, in 1990, defined himself as a more activist and socially moderate Republican than the man he wanted to succeed, Deukmejian.

“George Bush was kinder and gentler; Al Gore will be the family man,” said Republican consultant Dan Schnur, who worked for both Bush and Wilson. “Dan Lungren is going to develop his own approach for associating with the most positive aspects of the Wilson record while making it clear that he is his own person.”

Already, Lungren has distanced himself from Wilson in one area: While the governor endorsed the successful June measure to outlaw bilingual education, Lungren opposed it. But Lungren has pointedly refused to discuss their differences.

Aside from Proposition 227, the distinctions that Lungren have drawn have been largely stylistic. In television commercials aired this spring, he played up his wife and children and his casual California upbringing--a tacit contrast to the buttoned-down, workaholic Wilson. In tone, Lungren has adhered to the optimistic approach he shares with Ronald Reagan, rather than the sometimes aloof Wilson.

“Lungren has done a good job of putting on the short-sleeved shirt and being Mr. Comfortable,” said one senior Republican sympathetic to Wilson.

Polls indicate that Wilson’s troubles have not contaminated Lungren among most voters. Lungren remains more popular, if lesser known: Last October, the last time the Times Poll measured voter impressions of both men, Wilson was seen favorably by 48% and unfavorably by 42%. Lungren, while seen slightly less favorably--44%--was only half as unpopular, with 18% seeing him unfavorably.

Similarly, in April, Wilson’s negative job rating was about double Lungren’s negative impression. And of the voters who disapproved of Wilson then, only 37% also disapproved of Lungren, and 28% favored him.

But Lungren does have difficulties linked to Wilson among one burgeoning group of voters--Latinos. Among Latinos interviewed by the Times Poll as they left the polls on primary day, 47% had a positive impression of Lungren, and 53% a negative one. Comparatively, voters overall thought favorably of Lungren, 62%-38%.

Lungren won the support of only 17% of Latinos in June--less than half of what a Republican could have expected before Wilson angered Latinos with his support of 1994’s anti-illegal immigrant measure, Proposition 187, and 1996’s anti-affirmative action initiative, Proposition 209.

Wilson won 23% of the Latino vote in 1994. Lungren’s showing, according to political analysts, suggests that he is bearing the brunt of a delayed reaction to Wilson’s actions. Wilson spokesman Sean Walsh said he believes that the governor’s unpopularity--which he blames on an “active campaign” to damage Wilson among Latinos--will not spread.

“Pete Wilson, the great Satan, probably gets 85%-95% of the flak on this issue,” he said. “Dan Lungren is forging his own ground with that community and his own relationships.”

Wilson as ‘Soldier on the Point’

Lungren’s initial reaction to the Latino animosity toward Republicans underscores the difficult position he is in with Wilson as the sitting governor. At a May gubernatorial debate, he broached the issue by contending that Republican problems with Latino voters were due solely to GOP candidates not campaigning in Latino areas.

“We haven’t done a good enough job of showing up and getting our message across,” he said.

Later, asked specifically if Wilson was responsible for those GOP difficulties, he demurred. “I’m not casting aspersions on anybody,” he said. “I’m not trying to personalize this. The last time I looked, my name is going to be on the ballot.”

The potential for problems, however, extends beyond Latinos. For one thing, 56% of voters in the Times exit poll in June said it is time for Democrats to hold the governor’s office, after 16 years of Republican rule. While that finding was probably influenced by high Democratic turnout, the sentiment provides a fertile field for the Democratic message.

Davis backers also believe that policy differences between Wilson and Lungren will haunt the nominee, particularly if they coincide with a Democratic attempt to tar Lungren as an extremist. Wilson hews more closely to California’s socially moderate majority. Unlike Wilson, Lungren opposes abortion rights and has supported offshore oil drilling, among other issues.

“How does Pete Wilson defend Dan Lungren on choice?” asked Davis manager South. “What does he do about offshore oil drilling, gay and lesbian rights, all those areas where Pete Wilson is about as close to a moderate as we see these days?”

Lungren partisans retort that the two Republicans are in sync on the issues most likely to attract voters this year--education, crime and taxes--and because of that, they see Wilson’s high profile as beneficial.

Lungren campaign manager Puglia noted that Wilson is pressing during the current budget negotiations on two of those three issues-- for education reform and a cut in the state’s car tax.

“Pete Wilson is using the bully pulpit of the governor’s office to drive the Republican agenda,” he said. “That helps Lungren. It frames the debate in Republican terms.”

Wilson spokesman Walsh describes the governor as a “soldier on the point” in Lungren’s campaign war, willing to take fire that otherwise might be directed at the candidate.

Given Wilson’s history of hands-on governance, it is an open question when the governor will defer to the candidate. Both the Lungren and Wilson camps say that for now, they are working closely. After a new budget is signed and the final flurry of bills runs through the Legislature, the governor will naturally adopt a lower profile, they say.

“Clearly we know that there will be a passing of the baton,” said Wilson spokesman Walsh.

That is not only in Lungren’s interests but also Wilson’s, Republicans agree, since a Davis victory probably would open a broad dismantling of Wilson’s eight years in Sacramento.

“For Pete Wilson to have a legacy, Dan Lungren needs to be governor,” said one prominent Republican.

Ultimately, it will be up to Lungren to forge his own identity, whether or not Wilson moves cooperatively off the stage. In some Republican circles, there has been criticism that Lungren has been too passive this year--although voters do not at this point seem enthralled by the prospect of a lengthy general election campaign.

Republican Steve Merksamer, who oversaw the transition between former governors Brown and Deukmejian as Deukmejian’s chief of staff, believes that Lungren’s campaign will focus on defining him as the fall campaign heats up.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be Dan’s responsibility to define himself, who he is and what he believes,” Merksamer said. “And I believe he’s going to do that clearly and unambiguously.”