This time, it's personal

California's Republicans might win with a moderate like former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan -- but only if they can put their fratricidal inheritance behind them.

By Anthony York

Feb. 22, 2002 | Movie stars and moonbeams, mayors and millionaires have all sought to become governor of California. But even for California, this year's governor's race is turning into a strange one.

The current front-runner, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, once said, "My worst nightmare in the world is waking up in the morning and realizing I'm governor of the state of California." His chief opponent for the Republican nomination, political novice Bill Simon, only entered the race after Riordan -- not yet a candidate himself -- talked him into running. Former California Republican Gov. George Deukmejian has said he would not endorse Riordan even if he wins the party's nomination -- which probably has something to do with the fact that Riordan gave half a million dollars to Democrat Tom Bradley in Bradley's 1986 run against Deukmejian for governor.

There are other intriguing subplots involving former President Richard Nixon, a bankrupt savings and loan, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the Bush White House and actor Don Knotts, but we'll get to those in a minute.

In some respects, the race for the Republican nomination is simply the latest chapter in a long-running fight between conservatives and moderates. Since the party's implosion in 1998, these battles have been very public and very ugly. Republican strategist Dan Schnur once quipped the party was like a "circular firing squad," unable to sidestep divisive fights over issues like abortion and immigration, relegating itself to obscurity in the process.

While the Republican primary is being dubbed by some as a long-overdue showdown between moderates and conservatives, among party insiders it's also very personal. Deukmejian has clearly not forgotten Riordan's support of Bradley during in the 1980s, and Riordan has done little to try to salve the wounds.

Though the former L.A. mayor is a regular at a monthly comedy confab in a Los Angeles deli, which features the likes of Jonathan Winters, Buddy Hackett and Don Knotts, Riordan didn't help matters when he joked at this month's state GOP convention, "George has a bad memory. The only thing he remembers are his grudges."

The Republican audience responded with a chorus of boos.

The Bush clan is also looking for a little payback on March 5, when state Republicans will choose among Riordan, Simon and Calif. Secretary of State Bill Jones. As much as the Bushies would love to see a moderate Republican in the governor's chair in Sacramento, this primary provides the added allure of removing Bill Jones from the state picture. Jones, the only Republican to hold statewide office in California (term limits mean he cannot run again for his current post), made national headlines after the New Hampshire primary, when he switched his endorsement from Bush to John McCain.

Though the Bushies have a famously long memory, Jones' team seems to have already forgotten the past. In a recent hit against Simon, Jones campaign manager Rob Lapsley pointed out, "Bill Simon never voted for a Republican president of the United States in a primary, including George Bush." Presumably Jones' endorsement of McCain means Jones didn't cast a primary vote for Bush either -- but that, apparently, is beside the point.

Though it officially remains neutral, the White House is all but publicly pulling for Riordan. Last June, the president called Riordan to urge him to enter the race. And Riordan communications director Margita Thompson, who worked for Bush in California, came to the Riordan campaign with the White House's blessing, straight from her old job as Lynne Cheney's press secretary.

There is also some history between the Bush forces and Simon. Simon's father, the late William Simon, was Richard Nixon's treasury secretary. Throughout the 1980s, Simon and a young hotshot from the Nixon White House began a partnership, buying up several small, ailing savings and loans in an effort to create a giant merchant bank. Simon and his partner made millions off the banks but eventually parted ways in an acrimonious split.

Simon's partner was Jerry Parsky, a Bush confidant who ran Bush's presidential campaign in the state and is today the White House's de facto point man in California.

Next page: Riordan goes negative, and Davis helps Deukmejian knock Riordan