Lungren Without the Polish

SACRAMENTO — Beneath a giant elm, by a memorial for slain law enforcement officers, a vintage Dan Lungren was on display. Blemishes and all.

This was not the naturally charming Lungren, although there’s always some of that. Nor was it the polished-for-TV adaptation. This was the version familiar to people who regularly see him up close: the fiery ideologue with a distracting touch of arrogance.

Monday’s campaign event, across the street from the Capitol, was a routine announcement of endorsements by victims rights groups. In a larger sense, however, it was a forum that encapsulated Lungren’s race for governor at this stage.

The attorney general talked about his No. 1 priority and best natural issue: crime-fighting. “As much as I’m committed to better education,” he said, also adding tax cuts and government downsizing to his list of commitments, “nothing--none of those things--will get first in my heart or my mind or my leadership or my action over safety in the streets.”

The Republican candidate previewed the theme of a new TV ad he’s about to start running that will attack his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Gray Davis. It will denounce Davis for supporting a more moderate version of the three-strikes sentencing law than the one that eventually passed.

“When we were there fighting the battle, [Davis] was on the sidelines,” Lungren told the small gathering of roughly 30, a third of whom were reporters. Davis endorsed a version, he said, that would have “emasculated” three strikes.

As he regularly does, Lungren bashed Davis for being Gov. Jerry Brown’s top aide two decades ago. “I won’t go back to the Jerry Brown-Gray Davis years when [they] were putting people like Rose Bird on the court.” he said.

Then Lungren used Bird to indirectly link Davis to President Clinton’s flawed character: “If you listen to my opponent right now, he can barely remember Rose Bird. . . . Give me a break. Don’t we have enough of people dissembling and people using careful language and people parsing their sentences elsewhere?”

And during a Q-and-A with reporters, Lungren got to speak up about his current No. 1 passion: character and Clinton.

“It’s a sad thing,” the candidate said. “He’s besmirched the office of president. . . . For the good of the country, he ought to step down.”

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The noon-hour event on a hot day also brought out Lungren’s unpleasant side. That’s when he can be sarcastic or preachy or bellicose or pompous or all of the above.

To be fair, Davis is legendary for privately berating staffers. With Lungren, it’s his public speaking tone that sometimes turns bombastic and grates.

The GOP conservative often relies on foils, especially news media foils. He’s starting to sound a bit like the late Spiro Agnew.

“I’ve heard the press say that crime is not an issue,” Lungren told the crime victims. “Well, the reporters can talk about that, the pundits can talk about that, the editorial experts. . . . “

For the record, I’ve never heard any reporter say that crime is not a top issue. It always is. We read polls just like the politicians.

Lately, Lungren also has been demanding of reporters. He told one Monday: “Listen to what I say and hopefully you’ll print the whole thing, OK.” Sorry, that’s usually reserved for State of the State addresses.

His targets go beyond the news media. Referring to a professor Monday, he remarked: “I will refrain from using expressions like pointy-headed intellectuals.”

My recent favorite, however, was a remark he made about people who patronize bars. He told Times reporter Dan Morain that, as governor, he would sign a bill to reopen some bars to smoking. He declared: “There’s a point of [being] prudish about this. . . . If someone wants to go drink themselves to death, let ‘em smoke too.”

Lungren is a teetotaler who doesn’t smoke. I’m not sure who the prude is here. I do know that many people go into bars to socialize with no intention of drinking themselves into the grave. Some are allergic to tobacco smoke. Some don’t even drink liquor.

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But something must be working for Lungren, because the latest Times poll found him running even with Davis. Previous surveys by other pollsters had shown him trailing by several points.

Some Republicans clearly are moving to Lungren, after having voted Democratic in June’s open primary. They’re being revved up by the Clinton scandal and, very probably, Lungren’s exhortations about morals and character. Campaigning against crime also is a proven vote-getter.

Myself, I think the first civil candidate who can convince voters that he’s solid and substantive and serious about restoring our state will wind up the winner.