Bush's Hopes for Republican to Run California Hit a Snag
" Early on, Mr. Riordan said, he was encouraged to run not only by Mr. Bush but by Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's top political adviser, and Ken Mehlman, the White House political director. "They were the two main people," Mr. Riordan said. "But the White House is trying to keep their fingerprints off the campaign because the
president's supposed to be nonpartisan in the primary."
The New York Times
February 25, 2002
By RICHARD L. BERKE
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 23 -
President Bush has been careful
not to appear to take sides in the
Republican primary for governor of
California. But when he spotted one
candidate, Richard J. Riordan, on his
trip here last month, Mr. Bush could
not help himself.
"He came up to me and said, `Hi,
Governor!' " Mr. Riordan recalled in an interview. "That felt pretty good."
But Mr. Riordan, the former two- term mayor of Los Angeles, is no longer so cheery
or confident about his chances, and neither are the White House officials who
quietly recruited him to wrest back the governorship of the most populous state.
In barely two weeks, Mr. Riordan has tumbled from the heady perch of inevitable
Republican nominee. He is struggling to put down an unexpectedly potent
challenge from an old friend, Bill Simon Jr., a multimillionaire businessman and
former federal prosecutor who has never before sought public office. The primary is
March 5.
Mr. Riordan's shift in fortunes came largely because Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat,
viewed him as the most daunting threat to his re-election in November. So in an
unusual move late last month, Mr. Davis injected himself in the Republican
primary by inundating the state with more than $8 million in television
commercials that almost exclusively mocked Mr. Riordan - whose moderate, even
liberal, stands on social issues are close to Mr. Davis's own - as a flake who
flip-flopped on abortion and other issues.
While Mr. Davis was bloodying Mr. Riordan, Mr. Simon
and another Republican candidate, Bill Jones, the
secretary of state, began pounding him with their own,
more modest advertisements, which questioned Mr.
Riordan's party fealty.
Lamenting his new predicament, Mr. Riordan, who had
encouraged Mr. Simon to run before entering the race
himself, said, "I haven't had so much fun since my dog
died."
Yet even some Riordan backers say Mr. Riordan himself is
to blame for his faltering campaign. He was so certain of
winning the primary, they say, that he immediately
plunged into a campaign against Mr. Davis, never courting
the steadfast conservative Republicans who are crucial to
victory in the primary.
Many leading Republicans still view Mr. Riordan as the
favorite; others call the race a tossup. Mr. Riordan said his campaign's own polling
shows Mr. Simon closing in. Mr. Riordan has been forced to discard what he calls
his strategy of "running a campaign against Davis," to focus heavily on Mr. Simon.
A loss by Mr. Riordan would be humiliating not only for him but also for the White
House, which turned to him as Mr. Bush's best hope of gaining a foothold in
California, with the largest cache of electoral votes, and of rebuilding a state party
still staggering from Mr. Davis's 1998 victory.
Although the state, one of the most heavily Democratic in the country,
overwhelmingly favored Al Gore in 2000, Mr. Bush's advisers have been determined
to win the governorship there. They believe a Republican chief executive would, at
the very least, force the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 to lavish
resources on California.
Mr. Riordan, 71, who made a fortune as a specialist in corporate takeovers, has
become a juicy target because, unlike his rivals, he favors abortion rights, gun
control and gay rights. He has also showered tens of thousands of dollars on
Democratic candidates, including Mr. Davis.
Asked in an interview which California governors he most admired, he did not cite
Ronald Reagan, an icon in the party, but two who presided over the state's
economic boom: Earl Warren, a Republican, and Edmund G. Brown Sr., a
Democrat. In an interview, Mr. Simon did not hesitate, "Obviously, Ronald Reagan."
Despite Mr. Riordan's lack of devotion to many Republican positions, Mr. Bush's
advisers urged him to run, so determined were they to find a candidate with
popular appeal in the general election.
Early on, Mr. Riordan said, he was encouraged to run not only by Mr. Bush but by
Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's top political adviser, and Ken Mehlman, the White House
political director. "They were the two main people," Mr. Riordan said. "But the
White House is trying to keep their fingerprints off the campaign because the
president's supposed to be nonpartisan in the primary."
He acknowledged, though, that the president checked in from time to time. Several
weeks ago, Mr. Bush "was on the balcony of the White House when he called me,"
Mr. Riordan said. "He encouraged me, saying something like, `Go to it!" '
Today, at a Republican Latino event in Los Angeles, Riordan operatives were not
subtle about making the Bush connection. They set up life- size cardboard cutouts
of a smiling Mr. Bush throughout the hotel - and they fastened a Riordan
campaign button on the presidential lapel.
White House advisers said that Mr. Riordan was essentially the last prospect
standing. Mr. Jones is the only statewide elected Republican, but Bush aides have
not forgiven him for defecting to Senator John McCain of Arizona in the
Republican presidential primaries. They said they viewed Mr. Simon as
inexperienced and a plodding campaigner.
"Jones betrayed Bush, so they didn't go with him," said Tirso Del Junco, a political
veteran here who once led the California Republican Party. "Simon was the new
kid on the block, and they misread his effectiveness and resources." Mr. Del Junco
added that Mr. Riordan "could have approached the party much more aggressively
and painted himself as Mr. Republican."
Many conservatives are disappointed by what they see as Mr. Riordan's flaunting of
his support of issues like abortion rights while giving no attention to Republican
causes or the party organization.
Mr. Riordan, who is known for his impulsive style, committed a faux pas at a
debate this month when he was asked about former Gov. George Deukmejian's
comments in a commercial questioning his character. "George has a bad memory,"
Mr. Riordan said. "The only things he remembers are grudges."
The remark drew gasps from the audience, and he quickly apologized, saying his
Irish humor had fallen flat. But he infuriated Republicans who are still much more
devoted to Mr. Deukmejian than the Republican who succeeded him, Pete Wilson.
"Dick may not have meant it maliciously," said Dan Schnur, a strategist who
advised Mr. Riordan before he entered the race last year, "but at a California
Republican convention, the only worse thing you could do would be to say
something mean about Reagan, Lincoln or Jesus."
In the interview here, Mr. Riordan dismissed the criticism as fueled by "some of the
right-wingers." He offered no apologies for keeping conservatives at a distance.
"I'm being myself, and I'd feel disingenuous if I was anything different," he said.
The Davis camp, which had hoped its advertising assault would cripple Mr. Riordan
for the general election, is euphoric that he may not even survive to November.
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