Clicking on banner ads keeps JWR alive
Jewish World Review June 8, 2001 / 18 Sivan, 5761

Debra J. Saunders

Debra J. Saunders
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
James Glassman
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Michelle Malkin
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Roger Simon
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports


Los Angeles' last white mayor?

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- WHEN former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa came in first in the April 10 mayoral race in Los Angeles, he seemed a good bet to win the June 5 runoff against the runner-up, L.A. City Attorney James Hahn. As both men are liberal Democrats with nearly identical stands on the issues, the race came down to personality, Villaraigosa's trump card. He had spark, Hahn had little. He was a high-school dropout from the barrio competing against a career pol who owed much of his standing to family ties.

But in the final count, Hahn beat Villaraigosa, 54-46.

What happened?

In 1996, Villaraigosa made the mistake of seeking a presidential pardon from President Clinton for convicted cocaine dealer Carlos Vignali. Villaraigosa wrote that Vignali had "no prior record" -- which wasn't true. He argued that Vignali, whose family had contributed some $6,000 to his campaigns, was the victim of guilt by association.

After Clinton freed Vignali seven years into a 14-year sentence, Villaraigosa's letter became news. Villaraigosa made it worse when he denied writing Clinton -- until a copy of the letter surfaced.

At best, the fiasco made Villaraigosa appear inexcusably sloppy. At worst, he looked dishonest. Hahn went with the worst, running political ads on television depicting the letter and some crack cocaine, as a narrator intoned, "Los Angeles can't trust Antonio Villaraigosa."

To fight back, Villaraigosa was left attacking Hahn's "climate of fear." But the damage was done, as he had failed to give a good explanation of why he had tried to free a well-connected drug dealer. As Democratic political consultant Joe Cerrell noted, "You didn't have to say he's soft on crime."

How ironic. The man known as the first black president may have helped elect Los Angeles' last white mayor.

It also helped that Team Villaraigosa misplayed the race card. Hahn's family ties gave him a near lock on black voters, as Villaraigosa had a near lock on Latino voters. Because their politics are similar, their campaigns had to win support from the mostly white voters who had opted for more conservative candidates in April.

GOP strategist Arnold Steinberg noted that the campaign made a point of waving American flags -- in contrast to the Mexican-flag waving that enraged conservatives during the Proposition 187 campaign in 1996.

Steinberg believes that the campaign should have used Villaraigosa's many GOP endorsers -- especially outgoing Mayor Richard Riordan -- to let white swing voters know he supported their issues. Instead, Riordan's insistence on speaking Spanish, albeit badly, "sent the opposite message." Not: He understands you. But: It will be good for you to accept change. It made Villaraigosa something of a castor-oil candidate.

The talk of Los Angeles, Cerrell noted, was that, if elected, Hahn would be the city's "last white mayor." Such talk probably prompted some whites to support Hahn.

Call it racism. Call it ethnic pride. Ask yourself if there's a difference. Pray for the day when it's not what turns the vote.


Comment JWR contributor Debra J. Saunders's column by clicking here.


Up


06/07/01: Kids will be kids, media will be media
06/04/01: Draw a line in the sand
05/30/01: Just don't call him a moderate
05/29/01: Operation: Beat up on civil rights
05/24/01: Of puppies, kittens and huge credit-card debts
05/22/01: Bush needs an energy tinkerbell
05/18/01: Divided we stand, united they fall
05/16/01: Big Bench backs might over right
05/15/01: Close SUV loophole
05/11/01: Kill the test, welcome failure
05/09/01: DA mayor's disappointing legacy
05/07/01: If it ain't broken ...
05/03/01: They shoot civilians, don't they?
04/30/01: Executions are not for prime time
04/12/01: White House and the green myth
04/10/01: The perjurer as celeb
04/04/01: Bush bashers don't know squat
04/02/01: Drugging our oldsters
03/30/01: Robert Lee Massie exercises his death wish
03/28/01: Cheney's nuclear reactor
03/26/01: Where California and Mexico meet
03/16/01: Boy's sentence was no accident
03/14/01: Soft money, hard reform
03/12/01: Banks, big credit lines and consumer bankruptcy
03/09/01: Free speech dies in Berkeley
03/02/01: When rats have rights
02/28/01: Move a frog, go to jail?
02/26/01: They knew they'd get away with it
02/20/01: How Dems define tax fairness
02/16/01: The jackpot casino Carmel tribe?
02/14/01: You can fight school success
02/12/01: Hannibal -- with guts this time
02/08/01: A family of jailbirds
02/05/01: Reality's most demeaning TV moments
02/01/01: Justice for the non-Rich
01/26/01: Hail to the chiefs of D.C. opinion
01/24/01: A day of mud and monuments
01/22/01: Diversity, division, de-lovely D.C.
01/19/01: Parties agree: Give back the money
01/17/01: Get tough with the oil companies, or forget pumping more Alaskan crude
01/15/01: Mineta better pray that no attending confirmation senator has ever driven to San Jose during rush hour
01/12/01: Europeans should look in the mirror
01/10/01: Dems' reasons for dissin' Dubya's picks
01/08/01: Jerry, curb your guru
01/03/01: A foe of Hitler and friend of Keating
12/28/00: Nice people think nice thoughts
12/26/00: The Clinton years: Epilogue
12/21/00: 'Tis the season to free nonviolent drug offenders 12/18/00: A golden opportunity is squandered
12/15/00: You can take the 24 years, good son
12/13/00: Court of law vs. court of public opinion
12/08/00: A salvo in the war on the war on drugs
12/06/00: Don't cry, Butterfly: Big trees make great decks
12/04/00: Florida: Don't do as Romans did
11/30/00: Special City's hotel parking ticket
11/27/00: No means yes, yes means more than yes
11/22/00: The bench, the ballot and fairness
11/20/00: Mendocino, how green is your ballot?

© 2000, Creators Syndicate