The 1998 campaign for governor of California was one of the oddest in the state's history, centering on what came to be known in political circles as the "murder-suicide pact."
Two wealthy Democrats spent millions of dollars on a nonstop barrage of television ads, concentrating on each other, and the invective so alienated primary voters that they turned instead to dark horse Gray Davis.
The duel between airline executive Al Checchi and U.S. Rep. Jane Harman was set up by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's dithering for months over whether to run.
When Feinstein finally opted out, her campaign-in-waiting largely shifted to Harman. As the wife of a very wealthy defense contractor, Harman had virtually unlimited personal funds, leading to the war with Checchi.
Davis, a bland political lifer who had patiently climbed the political ladder from gubernatorial chief of staff to lieutenant governor, was already committed to running but had relatively little money and, initially, was an also-ran standing in the polls.
Davis won the Democratic nomination handily and went on to defeat Republican Dan Lungren, who was unable to refute Davis' charges of Lungren being a radical right-winger.
Could history repeat itself next year? Two very wealthy Republicans, Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, are concentrating their campaigns for the GOP nomination on each other while largely ignoring Tom Campbell, a centrist former congressman with little money.
Campbell is campaigning, oddly enough, on public policy issues, such as a plan to expand health coverage for the poor without increasing overall spending.
When the GOP primary campaign heats up next year, Whitman and Poizner are likely to intensify their expensive duel, while Campbell hangs around and hopes for the best.
The potential for a 1998 replay is found in a new Field Poll showing that, among GOP voters, Campbell remains in second place just behind Whitman.
This could become very interesting if the two big money candidates go into murder-suicide mode.
A few rules are needed to help foster a feeling of community. We encourage a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect, but any post that violates someone's right to use and enjoy fresnobee.com is prohibited. Before you post, please read the terms of use and obey these simple guidelines.
Here are the ground rules:
Contents of this site are © Copyright The Fresno Bee. All rights reserved.
E-Mail
Print
@Nyx.CommentBody@