News Scrapbook 1985

Son Oiego, CA \Son Diego C~ .l Son Diego Union \Cir . D 2,7,32-41 !Cir. S 339,7881

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yJar after losing, 4 polit·cal rookies are OK, thank you

Losers: A year later, all is OK Continued from A-3 ,1_,,q~~orking class and it hurt his chances But I had always wanted to run for

Congress."

among his fellow Republicans. "It did make me angry I was not in the same social element as many Republicans in leadership and I thought, perhaps naively, that differ- ences in social station would not have an impact," he said. "It made me more realistic. Those in higher stations in life seem to receive more benefits from the apparatus than the average working American." Even so, be remains staunchly Republican and endorses President Reagan. Simmons said local Democrats gave of themselves "full measure" to his campaign. "The state ... left me rather bitter. I believed I had certain commitments and wound up wasting a lot of time and energy," he said. "That extends to the national party as well. There was virtually no help from the Democratir.(Congressional) Campaign Committee. That needs to be changed." All three Democrats felt the Reagan landslide victory over Dem- ocratic nominee Walter Mondale touched their own races. "To the extent the national cam- paign falls on its face, I lose," said Guthrie. "I was still out putting up posters at 6 p.m. when we learned that Mondale was about to give up." Money - or the lack of it - was a common problem. Guthrie personally pumped in half of the $17,000 raised for his cam- paign. "I didn't end up broke," said the computer consultant, who also teaches at the Western Sierra Law School "A house is what I didn't buy.

'IL wa cl ar two we ks before the ud that I didn't have a chance,'' Sim- mon said m has neat office at the University of San Diego law school, wh re e teacnea. Thad no illusions Thing that I had hoped would hap- pen, didn't But e were determined not to whimper or to tum tall and to make a good howmg as po ible. ' was defeated m the 41st D1 tract by R p. Bill Lowery, a Re- pubhcan, by 2-to-1 margm. 1mmons, a former judg who is totally blmd, pa d and thought back to th t grim Tu day mght of ov. 6, 1984, when he sat in his car with hi wife and Ii tened to the elec- tion results on KSDO radio. "The 1ze of th defeat was ·cer- tainly d vastatmg. I felt like those Inv tor in J D v1d h n they I rnctl they w r 't y ck. Ion Repubhcan seeking a congr sional eat, Neill Campbell, r membered that by October "things looked very difficult" for him m the prawlm 44th District. He had been told flat out by GOP officials m Wa hmgton that his was not an area t rg t d for national help. The proof of that came when President Reagan campaigned m n Diego and Camp- bell, who wor m a grocery store, was no mvated to share the tage although some other GOP candidates re 'We h d difficulty in raasmg mon y and money i credibility," Campbell said, pouring a Niagra of ugar into a cup of extra-strong cof- fee. ''So we had no delusions of an easy wm. On election n ght, I main- tained an emotional caution through- out the evening." When 11 was over, he had lost to Democratic Rep. Jim Bates almost by three to one. f'inally, when at was over, the four lo ing candidate· felt a sense of ac- complishment at finishing a bard job more than hurt. Guthrie spent a few Simmo

Simmons also made Joans to his campaign from bis personal account and although he out-raised all other challengers, he found that a $140,000 campaign chest wasn't enough. "Di- rect mailing, issue surveys, comput- er targeting, finding things that were pro-Simmons and anti-Lowery were very expensive and we just didn't have the money," he said. Campbell ran a low-budget cam- paign and Humphreys ran a shoe- string effort that actually ended up in the black. Her final check was a $1,100 gift to the North Shore Demo- cratic Club. The checkbook balanced at zero and she now works at Claire- mont Hospital as director of volun- teer services while holding down sev-./l era! semi-political board positions. Each felt the media had bet>n fair, overall, but was difficult to deal with. "It is impossible to be obJective as a candidate. Any criticism is viewed as an attack," said Simmons. But he remains angry that "no inves- tigating reporter was willing to look into the material" he laid out about the campaign record of Lowery. "Sure, I thought they were unfair. No reporter was ever interested on get- ting answers from Lowery on any of the questions." Each candidate feels they did as good as possible, probably better than expected, against the heavily favored incumbents. They were dis- appointed, but enjoyed it.

"Promises, monetary promises, are dirt cheap. I would want support up front," said Campbell. "I was not wise to all of the political machinery involved." Guthrie said he has become "more pragmatic" but remains active in local Democratic politics. Simmons may resign from the Democratic Central Committee but will remain active in such topics as court reform and anti-nuclear issues. "There are just so many hours in a day to divide up," he said. Campbell, who works nights, reads and studies and looks forward to a time when he can spend more eve- ning hours at meetings. Humphreys, who is "making money for a change," is turning more toward the non-par- tisan politics of local government in North County. She still recalls the problems of partisan races and bristles when talking of being jilted by the state and national party bigwigs. "We were all embittered to some degree ... the most frustrating thing in the campaign was asking things of the local, state and national parties and not getting them," she said. "We were strung along, maybe help is coming. There were so many small things that they could have done that didn't cost money." Just as Humphreys felt snubbed by women's groups at the Democratic National Convention in San Francis- co, Campbell felt that a class distinc- tion existed between the elite and the

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The San Diego Umon John Gibbins

Lois Humphreys

David Guthrie

ically draming," said Humphreys. "I had been up very early in the morn- ing and worked until late at night. Emotionally, it was hard because we knew what the outcome was going to be. Then I got up the next morning and the phone wasn't ringing. I took it easy until the (Christmas) holi- days." Interestingly, none of the four have Jost their spirit for political combat and all would run again, although not necessarily for Congress, under cer- tam circumstances. But they are smarter, having left their novice sta- tus with the debris of their first cam- paigns. See LOSERS on Page A-2f

days in the desert Jetting the sun bum the politics away. Humphreys went home and "had a good cry as much from relief as anything." "Within 24 hours, the disappoint- ment was gone," said Simmons, who returned to work almost immediate- ly. ''There was positive joy that all the work involved was over and I could go back to a normal living." Campbell took a day off and also went back to bis Alpha Beta job, finding bis co-workers sympathetic to what be had been through. "They recognized I was someone who had done something about bis convictions rather than just complaining," he aid. "It had been emotionally and phys-

So n Diego, CA (Son Diego Co.I San Diego Union (Cir. 0 . 217,3241 (Cir. S. 339,7881 OCT 6 1995 Jlllni'• P c. B

zir> Helmsmen raised some cool cash By Janet Sutter Oct. 19. The wmeries represented Spinoffs Spindrift will be Deloach, Beringer, Chateau taff Writer Ste. Michelle and Fetzer. The place St. Germaine Auxiliary of the Actor Bu~ss Mereditll was will be the James Hubbell-

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"Celebrate The Holidays," San Diego Historical Society's exhibit of room vignettes will be Nov. ~4.

There will be a real cruise for two along the Nile in the live auction. other items: a champagne brunch, with travel by limousine and bal-

Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $3.50; for the preview

The San Diego Union Greg VoJtko Actor Burgess Meredith hugs a penguin at the Helms- men dinner .

"ARepertoire of Fall Releases" is what San Diego Repertory The- ater calls its twilight wine-tasting

party, $10.