Cranston Democratic Foes--the Prospects Are Grim

If the Republican U.S. Senate race has six candidates facing long odds, the four Democrats challenging incumbent Sen. Alan Cranston face even grimmer prospects.

Santa Clara political scientist John Hancock Abbott; Robert J. Banuelos, a telephone company technician from Laguna Hills; Los Angeles minister Charles Greene and Brian Lantz, a San Francisco printer who embraces the political philosophy of Lyndon LaRouche, are all political unknowns who do not come close to matching the more than $4 million Cranston has raised.

Banuelos, 33, says he is getting a good response at public appearances, but the party’s state central committee takes the attitude: “How dare you run against Mr. Cranston?”

‘Knocking on Doors’

But the communications technician took a leave of absence from his job at Pacific Bell to do just that, and he is out “knocking on doors.”

His campaign, he said, is based on finding alternatives to the freeway system and making English the official state language.

“I support bilingual programs, but I want to make sure English is learned,” said Banuelos, a second-generation Mexican-American.

Despite the overwhelming odds against him, Banuelos said: “This is California. Anything is possible.”

‘Need a Change’

Greene, 65, also entered the Democratic primary believing “we need a change in the Senate. I believe Cranston represents big business and the affluent.”

A member of Los Angeles County’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, Greene said he has been active in the campaign to aid the homeless, and as a senator he would represent his total constituency--including minorities, senior citizens and the homeless.

Abbott said he is the only candidate “with new solutions for national and international affairs.”

He didn’t say much more, snapping: “I don’t grant interviews.” Before taking his leave from a telephone conversation, however, he did allow that he has written a “brand new Constitution for the United States and a brand new charter for the United Nations.”