GOVERNOR'S RACE FINALLY CATCHES FIRE

Barnstorming weekend -- all up close and real Carla Marinucci, Robert B.
Gunnison, Chronicle Political Writers Monday, June 1, 1998 1998 San
Francisco Chronicle

In the frenzied closing hours of this year's gubernatorial primary, four
battling candidates delivered what has been largely lacking in the 1998
TV-dominated campaign: color, excitement, talk about issues and face-to-face
appearances before thousands of real live voters.

Democratic front-runner Gray Davis was fired up and emotional yesterday
before a receptive congregation at the First African Methodist Episcopal
Church in Los Angeles -- and talking like a winner. A spirited
Representative Jane Harman, fueled by internal polls suggesting she is
gaining on Davis, barnstormed the state in a six-seat airplane filled with
powerful female backers, arguing for ``bold leadership'' on education, gun
control and health care.

Businessman Al Checchi finished up a statewide school bus tour -- seemingly
oblivious to polls showing him in last place -- with a push for the Latino
vote, crooning ``Guantanamera'' to the strains of a mariachi band in Los
Angeles.

Meanwhile, state Attorney General Dan Lungren, all but unopposed for the
Republican nomination, was relaxed enough to joke about how his campaign
against Davis might go.

As an estimated 6 million California voters prepare to go to the polls
tomorrow, the final weekend marked a clear departure from the carefully
crafted barrage of 30-second TV spots that have defined the political season.

Instead, the candidates at last let their guard down -- giving voters a
glimpse of the personalities and passion at the heart of their quests.

The differences were most dramatic in Los Angeles, where Davis and Checchi
nearly crossed paths at morning services at the First African Methodist
Episcopal Church, a powerhouse of social and political activism.

The church's pastor, the Rev. Cecil ``Chip'' Murray, had endorsed both
candidates -- and both delivered memorable campaign moments at two different
morning services.

Davis, accused of blandness throughout his campaign, abandoned his usual
restraint -- raising his arms with the choir on the church dais.

``Praise the Lord and thank the Lord for this great church, this great
ministry and your great pastor!'' said Davis before several hundred
worshipers at the 8 a.m. service.

Davis, a Roman Catholic, took on an evangelical air, telling churchgoers
that his wife, Sharon, ``brought me back to the Lord a few years ago.''

``We need a governor who will bring us together. We've had enough of the
division,'' said Davis.

``I've spent my whole life in service to you. I went to Vietnam 30 years
ago,'' he reminded them, adding that he also worked for former Los Angeles
Mayor Tom Bradley and former Governor Jerry Brown.

``I believe how you live your life counts on at least two days,'' Davis
said, ``Judgment Day and Election Day.''

Checchi, who polls show has left a sour taste in voters' mouths with his $30
million spent on mostly negative TV advertising, changed tactics. His
campaign pulled harsh attack ads from some San Francisco television
stations, and in other areas of the state substituted more homey spots, like
one starring kids mispronouncing his name.

At the First AME, Checchi, also a Catholic, shared a prayer book with
hometown Congresswoman Maxine Waters -- whose autographed 8-by-10 glossy
photo ``suitable for framing'' was mailed statewide to voters with her
endorsement of Checchi.

Then, with the cadence of a preacher, Checchi talked about the state's $4
billion surplus as he delivered one of the most passionate and effective
speeches of his campaign.

``I may not be a professional politician, but I'm not blind,'' he told
churchgoers. ``We do not have a surplus of classrooms. We do not have a
surplus of teachers. We do not have a surplus of educated children. I go to
these communities, and the only thing I see is a surplus of jails.''

``I don't see a surplus of programs after school,'' Checchi told them. ``I
don't see a surplus of drug treatment programs. . . . I don't see a surplus
of anything except wedges and meanness. And I'm telling you, we can't have
another 25 years like the last years.''

Later, with state Senator Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, he let loose
again, crooning with a mariachi band, holding babies, and handing out copies
of his 90-page ``Checchi Plan'' at El Mercado, a favorite Latino marketplace.

Harman's weekend marathon by small plane was also full of spunk and vigor
- --clearly energized by what her campaign manager, Bill Carrick, said were
internal polls suggesting the candidate was within 5 points' striking
distance of Davis.

On Saturday, she barnstormed the state -- from Los Angeles and Santa Barbara
to San Jose, Sacramento, Oakland and Berkeley.

Throughout, she hammered on themes that studies show women care most about
- -- gun control, health care reform, reproductive choice, education, and tobacco.

Harman abandoned her more cautious speaking style for outright passion,
repeating four questions at each stop: ``Who offers bold leadership? Who
will heal this state? Who has run a positive campaign? And who can beat Dan
Lungren?'' The three-term congresswoman was upbeat as she crisscrossed the
state. At her side was Ellen Malcolm, the founder and president of Emily's
List, the influential Democratic pro-choice women's political action
committee. Joining them at various stops were Congresswomen Zoe Lofgren and
Anna Eshoo of San Jose, Lois Capps of Santa Barbara and Juanita
Millender-McDonald of Torrance. San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer, retired
Representative Ron Dellums, and state Senator Hilda Solis of Los Angeles,
also appeared along the way. ``We do not want the limp of Davis, the lip of
Checchi, or the soup-warmed-over of Lungren,'' Millender-McDonald yelled to
the crowd at a Santa Barbara park. ``It's not just because she's a woman,
but I'm happy that she is.''

In a community center of ``Sal Si Puedes,'' the San Jose Latino heartland,
Solis urged immigrant voters to support the candidate whom she said could
work with both political parties and yet had `el corazon de una madre,'' the
heart of a mother.

At each stop, Harman told supporters not to believe the polls.

``In 1992, no one thought I could win,'' Harman said. ``Most of the likely
voters are still undecided -- and undecided is not going to beat Dan Lungren.''

Harman's personal appeals clearly moved some off the fence.

``I'm definitely with her,'' said Toni Wellen, co-chairwoman of Santa
Barbara Women Against Gun Violence, who watched Harman give a strong
anti-gun talk. ``Hearing her made the difference.''

And in Sacramento, the candidate had a craving for ice cream and stopped at
Vic's, a local institution. The young woman behind the counter dished her up
a mocha swirl and said, ``I'm voting for you.''

Meanwhile, Republican Lungren took some time to joke about the medical
marijuana guru who is his ``main'' rival on tomorrow's ballot.

``I do have to get past this guy from San Francisco, Dennis Peron,'' Lungren
told a GOP rally in Torrance. ``I confess, I did indict him. But that was
before he was a candidate and also before he was a Republican.''

Lungren barnstormed across Los Angeles on Saturday, hinting about his
possible strategy against Davis. ``I thought I was going to have to spend
millions of dollars reminding people that he worked for (former Democratic
Governor) Jerry Brown and he brought it up three times in the first
debate,'' Lungren said.

``We're going to have some fun out there.''

1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A1

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett