CAMPBELL DRUG PLAN DRAWS SKEPTICISM AT STATE GOP MEETING

BURLINGAME - Republican activist Sam Crump is willing to ignore U.S. Senate
candidate Tom Campbell's support for abortion rights.

He even overlooks the Bay Area congressman's opposition to Proposition 22,
which would ban gay marriages in California.

But there's one thing this conservative party stalwart can't quite
tolerate: Campbell's support for providing drugs to addicts as a way of
cutting crime and reducing deaths from AIDS and overdoses.

"I don't like the drug program," he said. "The government shouldn't condone
something that's wrong to begin with."

Campbell's proposal received a resounding thumbs down this weekend among
the conservatives who dominated the audience at a debate among GOP
candidates for the Senate at the California Republican Party convention
here late Friday night.

The issue clearly illustrated the gulf that separates Campbell from his two
rivals, San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn and state Sen. Ray Haynes,
R-Temecula, who are more in sync with the anti-abortion, gun-owner-rights
views of those who constitute a clear majority of delegates here.

Campbell has a wide lead over his two Republican rivals both in cash and
polls, although those surveys show a large undecided vote. He hopes that
his mixture of fiscally conservative and socially liberal views will help
him win voters who are Independents and Democrats in the March 7 open
primary. Incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein has no opposition in the
Democratic primary.

Campbell's drug policy is so different from the ideas backed by most
politicians, liberal or conservative, that it has caused some concern about
his appeal to some Republicans.

Yet Campbell won big applause from the mostly conservative audience on
Friday by stressing his record of cutting the budget in Congress and voting
to impeach President Clinton.

Campbell told the delegates that his record as a taxpayer's friend was more
than mere fiscal policy.

"Yes, it's economics, but it's so much more," he said. "It's individual
liberty. It's what unites us."

And he repeatedly contrasted his tight-fisted ways with Feinstein's record.

"I don't spend your money, and she can't stop spending your money. She
borders on taxpayer hostile. I border on taxpayer heroic," he said.

His rivals repeatedly blasted his drug proposal. Haynes characterized it as
government financing of crack houses, while Horn said it showed Campbell
was to the left of Feinstein.

"Campbell has voted like Feinstein, except in Boxer shorts," Horn said in a
jab comparing Campbell to Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. "Republicans, do
you want your U.S. Senate nominee to be more liberal than the Democrats?"
he asked.

Many delegates at the convention greeted the drug proposal, which has been
criticized by Feinstein, with boos and hisses.

Campbell, in an interview yesterday, said his plan is based on a
conservative belief that the federal government should not stand in the way
of innovative programs to reduce crime.

His program would keep all the laws against selling and using drugs, except
those given out in a controlled, public setting.

The government of Switzerland operates a similar program that he says has
cut crime and reduced the number of deaths from AIDS and overdoses. "If
deaths are diminished, addiction is diminished and crime drops, why should
the federal government stand in the way?" he said.

Despite the profound policy differences between Campbell and these moral
conservatives, the congressman made some headway among delegates by
repeatedly stressing his budget-cutting voting record.

His comments resonated with Mark Luce, a Napa County supervisor.

Luce will still support Haynes in the primary, but will have no trouble
switching his allegiance to Campbell if the congressman wins the primary.

"I'm going to give Campbell credit," he said. "His issue of reducing
spending is important. It's a very uniting issue that I can get behind."

Campbell holds a number of policy views that are not normally associated
with GOP officeholders, including support for stronger environmental
protection laws, gay rights, gun control and campaign finance reform.

Yet he shares some Republicans' pet causes. Campbell wants to gradually
eliminate the income tax and replace it with a national sales tax, he
supports school vouchers for parents of low-income children and reducing
federal requirements attached to education funds.

Horn told the debate audience that his No. 1 issue was cracking down on
China and rebuilding the military. He claimed that Campbell's votes on
China policy made him an "enemy of our national interests" and said the
congressman voted like a "turkey in the Democratic Party."

Haynes admonished the audience not to run away from the party's principled
stances in opposition to abortion and gun control, even though he
acknowledged those positions might not be popular among California voters.

Campbell urged the Republican delegates to avoid a divisive split between
moderates and conservatives.

His plea seemed to underscore the uphill struggle of beating a centrist
Democrat like Feinstein, who holds a commanding lead in name recognition
and money over all the Republican candidates.

"I want so much to come out of this party united because that's the only
way we're going to end the Clinton/Gore/Boxer/Feinstein legacy," Campbell
said.