Friday, April 4, 1997
ELECTIONS:
Students
dismiss, disapprove
of negative campaigning
By Tyler Maxwell and Marie Blanchard
Daily Bruin Staff
In less than a week, the second- largest city in the nation will
hold an election for its highest office.
Next Tuesday, incumbent Mayor Richard Riordan (R) will face off
against current state Sen. Tom Hayden (D).
Currently, Riordan is ahead by 27 percent of the vote, with
eight percent still undecided, according to a Los Angeles Times
poll taken last week.
Riordan’s large lead in the last few months have led many to
dismiss the elections as relatively uninteresting. Additionally,
both candidates have been accused of conducting negative campaigns,
citing the accusations both major nominees have made towards each
other in the last few weeks.
"The trend in recent years in campaigning has tended to be
skewed towards negative campaigning," said Paul Churchyard, a fifth
year psychology student, commenting on the negative turn he feels
the race has taken.
In a series of mudslinging epithets, the campaign trail has
consisted of accusations from both major candidates on each others
track records as well as personal accusations. Words like "racist,"
"ineffective" and "dead-beat" have been thrown around by both
parties, leaving some upset over what they feel is a lack of
issue-oriented campaigning.
"I think it says they just don’t have anything to say about
themselves," said Larry Dworkin, a graduate student in physics
lamenting about the negative campaigning.
Yet both candidates contend that they can have a large impact on
students’ lives as mayor and they have both been actively targeting
student voters.
The direct impact that the mayor of Los Angeles has on UCLA is
minimal though not inconsequential. In terms of higher education,
the future Mayor will have no direct say over UCLA, leaving some
students wondering why they should even vote.
Yet both candidates contend that indirectly through their
ability to influence the social and economic conditions of the
city, the UCLA community will be affected.
"The mayor recognizes that the most important element to a
strong future for the city of Los Angeles is a good education,"
said Todd Harris, a member of Mayor Riordan’s campaign staff and a
UCLA alumni. "And one of the most important things to determining
the quality of education is safety."
Safety is an issue for all UCLA students, Harris contended,
outlining how Riordan will effect campus life at UCLA.
"You can’t study for a midterm if you’re in fear of someone
breaking into your home, or walk to and from the library if you are
afraid of being assaulted … and the mayor is committed to making
this city safe," Harris said.
Hayden is currently chair of the State Higher Education
Committee. He has been involved in a bill that would establish the
Statewide Student Service Corp., thus enabling college and
university students to receive academic credit and a student fee
reduction for tutoring in public schools.
Hayden’s campaign adds that the current state senator is also a
better choice for students because "the students of UCLA have a
stake in the way the city is run."
"Tom (Hayden) represents a view of the city that UCLA students
should be able to identify with," argues Rocky Rushing, a member of
Hayden’s campaign committee. "He is the embodiment of that grass
roots democracy that could make UCLA and Los Angeles a better
place."
Riordan also claims that he has helped and will continue to help
the UCLA community through his position as mayor.
"The mayor recognizes that seniors are concerned with finding
employment when they graduate. Over the last four years, the Mayor
has created 40,000 new jobs in Los Angeles," Harris said.
Despite the significant lead Riordan currently has in the race,
Sen. Hayden may have found Riordan’s Achilles Heal. The majority of
the African American community of Los Angeles holds Riordan
responsible for ousting Police Chief Willie L. Williams, the first
African American to head the LAPD. Though Riordan enjoys support
from 57 percent of likely voters, two-thirds of black voters
surveyed have an unfavorable impression of him.
According to a recent Los Angeles Times poll, 85 percent of
African American voters surveyed disagree with the decision not to
re-hire Williams. On the same token, the percentage of black voters
who said they have a favorable impression of Hayden rose from 33 to
71 percent in two months.
Hayden, a liberal Democrat and an avid political activist is
best known for being Jane Fonda’s ex-husband and a student leader
who met with the North Vietnamese in Czechoslovakia during the
Vietnam conflict. He is also known for being a member of the
Chicago seven.
In contrast, Riordan has held a vastly different political
career. A New York native, Riordan moved west in 1956 and turned an
$80,000 inheritance into a fortune now estimated at $100 million.
He did this via leveraged buyouts and real estate ventures. Riordan
now accepts a symbolic $1-a-year fee for his services as L.A.
Mayor.
In the few days before the election Riordan will have to nurture
the perception that Los Angeles is recovering from the racial
tension that plagued the beginning of Riordan’s tenure in 1993. It
is Hayden’s challenge to deflate this perception.
Although Riordan promised not to run for re-election if he
didn’t increase the police force by 3,000 new officers, he has
increased the force by 2,000 officers and reduced crime in the city
by 25 percent.
"We created a safer Los Angeles, we created a city which was the
partner, not the enemy of business," Riordan said. "We have
nurtured a city where neighborhoods thrive."
Hayden’s response to the ubiquitous crime problem is different
from Riordan’s. He feels that working out a gang truce and giving
communities autonomy in finding crime solutions would be more
effective.
"Violence prevention, from domestic violence to gang violence,
must become our most important mission…. We need inner city jobs
with a future and prevention programs like drug treatment and
after-school tutoring," wrote Hayden in a press statement.
In an election race that has drawn the loudest criticisms of the
candidates from the nominee’s themselves, Mayor Riordan and Sen.
Hayden have been busy attacking each other on many different
grounds.
Mayor Riordan has contended that Hayden has been "ineffective"
as a State Senator, citing the amount of times Hayden missed voting
opportunities in the State Legislature. Specifically, Riordan’s
press release states that Hayden missed an approximate 5,000 voting
opportunities on "important issues facing Angelenos today."
Among these bills have been tougher sentencing for gang members,
a grant program to reduce crime and violence and a bill that would
strengthen the response of law enforcement to domestic violence
calls.
Hayden has dismissed these attacks claiming he has a 90-percent
attendance and voting record. He has also said that legislative
sessions between January and March are not important because
because "there’s nothing that really goes on."
Yet, despite the attacks made by both candidates, students have
remained generally uneducated about the local race. When asked
about the upcoming elections, many students faces went blank,
pleading ignorance to avoid questions.
"I don’t know anything about (elections)," said Lorraine
Bayuosa, a second year physiological science student when asked if
she was voting in the elections.
Other students expressed indifference towards the race and said
they had no intention of voting.
"I’m not interested (in the elections)," said Dworkin. "I should
be more interested since the Mayor does have a strong impact on Los
Angeles, but I feel both candidates (would be) adequate (as mayor).
Neither one is great," Dworkin continued.