Greasy politics get votes

Assessing Kathleen Brown's rocky gubernatorial campaign thus far, I am struck yet again by the unfortunate predominance of television advertising in shaping voter decisions.

The malevolent, slice-and-dice tone of Governor Pete Wilson's campaign has made the Roger Ailes/Lee Atwater/Peggy Noonan juggernaut that elected George Bush in 1988 seem, by comparison, almost as kind as gentle as they dubiously claimed to be. Wilson's ads have used the familiar techniques of quoting out of context, airing poorly lit photographs of the opponent and wielding spurious, ill-defined bromides to portray Brown as soft on crime and lenient on illegal immigration, all the while saying precious little about how the Republican candidate plans to govern for another six years.

In contrast to Wilson, Brown began her campaign by running TV spots in which she looked directly into the camera and addressed for voters - in broad terms, at least - her hopes for California's future. Unfortunately, the simple, straightforward approach tends to get pulverized by the pejorative techniques that have become de rigueur in the Republican party. Sure enough, Brown quickly fell behind in the polls, losing a double-digit lead in the same manner that Michael Dukakis was overwhelmed by the Bush team in '88.

There are many disturbing parallels between the California governor's race and the presidential contest of six years ago. Like Dukakis, Brown emerged from a carefully packaged, heavily endorsed primary campaign only to be revealed in the heat of battle as a candidate with a number of damaging flaws. Among these shortcomings are a nebulous ideological profile, a certain priggishness carrying the faint whiff of privilege, and Ñ most importantly Ñ a fatal reluctance to attack.

In Brown's case, however, that reluctance may have finally ceded to reality. The Democratic is now airing attack adds of her own. Mostly, they focus on how California's economy has gone from "first to worst" under the Republican incumbent.

Brown has toughened up her stump speeches, too. Appearing at Santa Monica College last Thursday, she said of Wilson, "He will stop at nothing [to get votes]. He likes to divide, he likes to bully ... he likes to bash everyone from kids to immigrants to the President of the United States."

The alarmingly promiscuous use of television as a blunt weapon of political attack is a disturbing trend; it may even constitute a legitimate threat to democracy. But those are long range concerns. For now, at least, it's good to see Kathleen Brown in the ring, throwing a few verbal punches of her own. It's not that the voters of California need to be told how pernicious and despicable Pete Wilson is - we already know that. We just need to know that she knows.