Coming Home : Arlo Smith Begins Attorney General Campaign in San Bernardino

SAN BERNARDINO —  The cheers were deafening:

“Here we go, Arlo, here we go!!”

“A-R-L-O!! A-R-L-O!!”

It was heady stuff, particularly for Arlo Smith, a candidate for state attorney general whose biggest campaign problem is that few people in Southern California have ever heard of him.

Only trouble is, most of the 2,200 foot-stomping fans gathered in the San Bernardino High School gymnasium to hear Smith formally announce his candidacy Thursday were students too young to vote.

Reminded of this fact, Smith gave a shrug and a smile. “Well,” he said after a 10-minute speech interrupted by outbursts from the boisterous throng in the bleachers, “we still think we got our message out.”

For Smith, the visit to the Inland Empire was a trip home. The San Francisco County district attorney was raised in San Bernardino and graduated from San Bernardino High in 1945. He later went to junior college in the area before going on to UC Berkeley.

As a campaign strategy, coming to San Bernardino to officially kick off his bid for attorney general had abundant appeal. There was the hometown-boy-makes-good angle--emphasized by signs reading “Mr. Smith Goes To Sacramento,” a reference to the 1939 Jimmy Stewart movie, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”

And it marked a perfect opportunity for exposure in a media market that is critical to Smith’s bid to beat Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner in the race for the Democratic nomination. A California poll last October found that Reiner was known by 55% of registered Democrats, while Smith was known by only 17%.

Smith, 62, conceded the high school pep rally appearance was designed to transport his name and face into Southland living rooms. “We certainly hope it will help,” he said, eyeing the television cameras.

But he added that the visit to his alma mater also was intended to show youngsters that “if you study and apply yourself, you can reach whatever goal you seek.”

Some students seemed captivated by the balding candidate in the pin-striped suit. Student Body President Scot Hazard--who plans a career in politics--declared himself highly impressed with Smith, though he called the district attorney’s speech one that “some underclassmen had trouble relating to.”

Others were a bit more ho-hum.

“Bo-o-r-r-r-r-r-ing,” one teen-aged girl whined to a friend with a roll of the eyes. “All politicians sound alike.”

“It was OK,” opined freshman Henry Salazar. “Better than sitting in class.”

After his speech, which focused on drugs and gang violence, Smith clutched a red San Bernardino Cardinals baseball cap and recalled for reporters his boyhood days, when he served as the high school’s student body president and was a member of the track and debate teams.

The nostalgic musing faded abruptly, however, when talk shifted to Reiner. Replacing his characteristically mild manner with a fist-pumping style, Smith said Reiner should have “stepped forward and accepted blame” for the “botched” handling of the McMartin Pre-School molestation case, in which no defendants have been convicted.

And he attacked Reiner for permitting “abuses” in the use of jailhouse informants by his deputies.

“He is not a man who stands up and takes responsibility in these situations,” Smith said. “And when you do that, you lose the public’s confidence.”