LUNGREN TAKES ON EDUCATION

Would-be governor shifts his focus to schools in address at GOP conference

BURLINGAME -- Attorney General Dan Lungren, a self-described law-and-order
Republican, pledged to make overhauling the state's education system the
top priority in his bid for governor.

"I will not accept that the No. 1 state's 4th-graders score nearly dead
last in reading and arithmetic," Lungren said in a speech Saturday at the
California Republican Party convention in Burlingame.

Sensing a hot-button topic that could become the year's top political
issue, the presumed GOP nominee pledged to make education reform chief
among his concerns, followed by crime and a broader spiritual crusade
against what he termed the country's "moral erosion."

The convention speech was Lungren's last stop on a three-day, 10-city tour
to launch his bid to replace Gov. Wilson. Republicans hope Lungren will
preserve the party's 15-year hold on the governor's office.

The party faithful greeted Lungren with a hero's welcome. They praised his
strong record on crime and his effort to inject religion into the campaign.

Political analysts said pushing moral issues could help the two-term
attorney general energize his conservative base, but may make it harder to
connect with moderate voters in the general election. Opponents have
already begun painting Lungren as "too conservative," citing his stand
against abortion and his opposition to gun control.

"Lungren may be the favorite of this convention, but he will not be the
favorite of California voters," said California Democratic Party campaign
advisor Bob Mulholland.

Republican strategists contend the majority of voters are to the right of
center, and in line with Lungren's views.

Lungren's speech came as candidates for the Democratic nomination for
governor have begun staking out ground in the education debate before the
June 2 primary. Lt. Gov. Gray Davis called for greater accountability in
California schools. He proposed that districts hire chief fiscal officers
to cut waste, and suggested making underachieving schools subject to state
takeover.

Lungren argued for an opposite approach. He proposed freeing teachers from
"strangling bureaucracy" and shifting more decision-making power to school
districts.

The 51-year-old former Long Beach congressman also touted a position
favored by conservatives nationwide: providing parents with the means to
choose schools, whether public, private or parochial.

Lungren credited tougher sentencing of criminals -- including the "three
strikes, and you're out" law he backed -- with the state's crime rate
having dropped to a 30-year low. He vowed to continue to push for stiffer
sentences and increased spending for new cops and prisons.

He told delegates about a recent song, "Smack My B---- Up," performed by
the British musical act Prodigy, and called it a sign of the deterioration
of the United States' moral standards. While he said he did not favor
censorship, he said he would like to "reintroduce the idea of shame" into
society.

After U.S. Sen Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., decided not to join the race,
political watchers deemed Lungren a favorite to become governor. But a
recent Field Poll showed a much closer race, with Davis outpolling Lungren
41 to 37 percent in a head-to-head match-up. Al Checchi, the
multimillionaire businessman, beat Lungren 40 to 38 percent.

Though Lungren has built a sizable campaign war chest, he said he would run
a grass-roots campaign.

"Money alone does not win elections -- Michael Huffington is the example,"
said Gisele Stavert, Dominican College political philosophy professor and
Republican candidate for Rep. Lynn Woolsey's Marin congressional seat. "You
can buy a lot of name recognition, but you can't buy (voters') hearts."

In other convention news, state GOP Chairman Michael Schroeder said
California Supreme Court Justices Ron George and Ming Chin would most
likely keep their jobs this year, even if the party joined the campaign to
oust them.

George and Chin enraged abortion rights opponents and some conservatives
when they joined in a 4-3 vote to overturn a never-enforced state law that
would have required parental consent or a judge's approval for an unmarried
minor to get an abortion. The court ruled that the law violated the privacy
rights of young women and would not promote minors' health or family
harmony.

The lightest moment of the day came when Lungren's only Republican
challenger in the primary, Dennis Peron, showed up with a band of 30
supporters, many carrying signs bearing an image of a marijuana leaf.
Peron, the founder of the Cannabis Cultivators Club in San Francisco, gave
a brief speech while security officers moved in to escort him out. "I don't
know why they threw us out," Peron said, standing outside. "Maybe it's
because we're black people, brown people and gay people."

)1998 San Francisco Examiner