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The Philadelphia Inquirer


SEPTEMBER 21, 1999 Tuesday SF EDITION
GUN ISSUE LOOMS LARGE IN A CALIFORNIA ELECTION WITH TWO
DEMOCRATS SQUARING OFF OVER A SINGLE ISSUE, TODAY'S
OUTCOME COULD SET THE TONE FOR THE 2000 ELECTIONS.
BYLINE: Dick Polman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. A01
LENGTH: 1333 words
DATELINE: SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.
Joe Baca says he can't fathom why some people are giving him so much grief.
Yes, it's true that he has taken $56,000 in campaign money from the gun lobby during his political career, and, yes, he is
routinely tagged as the National Rifle Association's poster boy. But all the critics are acting as if he's in love with
violence, as if he wants to see more kids get shot up.
Here he is, a Democratic state senator striving to indulge his long-deferred dream of running for Congress, to fill the
shoes of George Brown, the beloved liberal congressman who died suddenly in July, yet look at what he's dealing with:
A rival Democratic candidate - Brown's widow, no less - is all over his case for this gun business.
And judgment day has arrived in the working-class flatlands of the 42d Congressional District, because the special
election happens today.
It's not easy to run for Congress with a pro-gun record in these post-Columbine times. Political observers nationwide are
anxious to see how Baca fares today, because there is a theory going around that guns could be a pivotal issue in the
2000 congressional elections, and that a lot of antigun voters - particularly women - may cast their ballots accordingly.
This would be a first, because until now the voters most passionate about guns have tended to be the defenders of
weaponry.
Baca tries not to mention Marta Marcias Brown by name, because it's bad form to dump on a widow. No, he'd rather
stick with his strength, which is schmoozing. Standing 5-foot-6 in his sneakers, with the forward thrust of a booster
rocket, he was working a Teamsters picnic the other day, going on about how he used to clean out train engines at the
old railyard in Barstow when he was a young scrapper. Before long his up-from-poverty rap had attracted some serious
Teamster beefcake, and they were all telling him, "You got that right, brother!"
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But when asked later about Brown, candidate Baca shook his head sadly: "You know, I feel like I've got to wear a
bulletproof vest, because I seem to be getting shot at by everybody."
Which side will hold sway?
The hitch is, nobody really knows. On paper, the gun issue would appear to spell doom for Baca. In a summer poll,
when voters in the district were asked about Baca and Brown, Baca came out ahead. But when it was pointed out that
Baca has, among other things, voted against strengthening the state's assault weapons ban, and against banning the
manufacture and sale of Saturday-night specials, sentiment flipped, and Brown came out ahead of Baca.
Brown,54, a veteran social activist and a quiet Latina of regal bearing, said in an interview, "The issue of safety is so
pervasive, and gun control has become probably the predominant message, the thing that the public wants to see
happen. I know this issue is resonating for me, because I see the notes people write when they send us money. And the
general impression out there is that Joe [Baca] is very closely linked to the NRA."
Her campaign manager, Bobi Johnson, said the gun issue might pull women away from Baca: "Guns are a defining
issue for some groups of women - over age 60, Latino women. We absolutely believe it." But when asked for hard
evidence that women who voice antigun sentiments to pollsters will also be motivated to cast a ballot, Johnson said:
"We just don't know. God, if only we could measure that."
The gun issue must compete with other factors. Start with the "special election" format: It's an open primary, which,
under California law, means that all candidates appear on the same ballot. There are nine, including a lone Republican
who talks about taxes (attorney Elia Pirozzi), and a local mayor who is also beating up Baca over guns. If nobody gets a
majority today, then the top-finishing Democrat (probably Brown or Baca) will face Pirozzi in a November runoff. So
in essence, today's vote is the equivalent of a Democratic primary.
There is also bad blood between Brown and Baca, and that has turned this race into something of a grudge match. Last
year Baca, who is 52, was agitating for George Brown to retire at age 78, so that Baca could run for the seat. Brown
refused. After Brown died, Baca wasted little time launching his bid.
As Marta Brown recalled, "We were flying to Washington for George's memorial service. Me, and 20 members of my
family. We land, and we are handed a fax saying that Baca had announced, and that he was dedicating his campaign to
George. He never informed us. It was very hurtful."
So some of Brown's voters might be motivated not by guns, but by personal distaste for Baca. And bad blood aside,
Baca voters might be motivated not by a desire to defend him on guns, but because they feel a long-abiding kinship
with him on a range of other issues. Labor loves Baca, and labor has the clout to jack up the turnout.
Jim Hilfenhaus, a member of the Laborers International union, said, "We've got empathy for Joe. He's been on the
picket lines for us, he has voted to guarantee that we work an eight-hour day with overtime. He's not a fair-weather
friend, and he's not a member of the intelligentsia. That stuff means more than anything else. Also, a lot of people
around here like to hunt. You can see the gun racks in the backs of the trucks."
Lyn Shaw, another union loyalist, fingered her car keys in the Teamsters parking lot and shrugged off the gun issue: "A
lot of women have guns to protect their houses. And overall, women's issues are labor issues - wages, working
conditions. You're going to worry about that before you start worrying about whether your neighbor has a gun."
But Brown feels compelled to push the gun issue, because she and Baca generally agree on all the traditional
Democratic staples. This has been largely a mailbox war. One Brown brochure features a color photo of a
school-crossing sign riddled with bullet holes, inspired by a recent Baca vote against a bill banning gun dealers from
setting up shop within 1,000 feet of a school. She said the other day, "Every voter has the responsibility to look at his
record."
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GUN ISSUE LOOMS LARGE IN A CALIFORNIA ELECTION WITH TWO DEMOCRATS SQUARING OFF
OVER A SINGLE ISSUE, TODAY'S OUTCOME COULD SET THE TONE FOR THE 2000 ELECTIONS. The
Philadelphia Inquirer SEPTEMBER 21, 1999 Tuesday SF EDITION
Actually, Baca may be feeling the heat. After declaring his candidacy, he switched sides in the state Capitol, voting for
trigger locks (he had opposed them in the past), and voting to toughen the rules that govern gun shows. He even sent out
a mailer billing himself as "the principal coauthor" of the gun show law - when in fact he didn't sign on to the measure
until the end. The Brown camp says that Baca's "flip-flops" are designed to blur his pro-gun image and make him more
palatable to skeptical voters.
Who knows? Baca's strategy might work. But when asked about these new votes on gun issues, Baca denied any
political calculation: "You look at what's going on in society, a lot of violent incidents lately, and we all change
according to needs. As a politician, I care about the needs of my communities."
When asked about his NRA campaign money, he said, "I get contributions from everyone. The important thing is not to
be wedded to any group. I vote on the merits, not according to where I get my contributions."
But that's not necessarily how the NRA sees it. When local NRA members, angered by those new Baca votes, held a
meeting a few days ago, they were hosed down by Edward Whorley, an NRA official. Said Whorley, "Joe has done an
immense amount of work for you guys." Moreover, he said, the new gun-show law is no threat - because "it was written
by the gun show promoters." (Baca dismissed Whorley's claim as a "cranked up" exaggeration.)
Marta Brown, wearied by the politicking and the recent loss of her husband, went to church on Sunday and came out
with this message: "Guns are not a symbol of love, they are not an instrument of love."
But Baca later scoffed, "If my opponent wants to deal with only one issue, fine. I think people are smarter than that. I'm
hoping that people will look at me overall, not just on one issue."
By today, he'll know the verdict.
LOAD-DATE: October 22, 2002
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
NOTES: Campaign 2000
Copyright 1999 Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC
All Rights Reserved
Page 3
GUN ISSUE LOOMS LARGE IN A CALIFORNIA ELECTION WITH TWO DEMOCRATS SQUARING OFF
OVER A SINGLE ISSUE, TODAY'S OUTCOME COULD SET THE TONE FOR THE 2000 ELECTIONS. The
Philadelphia Inquirer SEPTEMBER 21, 1999 Tuesday SF EDITION

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