Voters Have the Democrats Where They Want Them

Like President Clinton’s remade Democratic Party, like America itself, newly reelected Rep. Jane Harman is locked firmly in the center, just where the electorate wants her to be.

Harman fashioned her 9 percentage-point victory in Los Angeles County’s South Bay in the same way Clinton marched to a second term--moving to the middle, avoiding the liberalism that once characterized the Democrats.

Harman’s district stretches from Venice to San Pedro, an area that is the essence of middle-class and affluent white suburbia, a part of America that once seemed lost to the Democrats.

In her two terms, the congresswoman supported the welfare reform opposed by liberals, buddied up to business and was a steadfast advocate of big military programs that occupy the aerospace plants in defense and high-tech centers such as Torrance and El Segundo.

Her approach is safe and solid, as businesslike as a resume or as a prospectus for a new stock offering. And just as inspiring.

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By nature, Harman is an activist, a restless woman always searching for new tasks. At her victory party Tuesday night, a supporter asked her if she was going to take time off after a long, rugged campaign. Harman looked surprised. No, she replied, listing several tasks she had to accomplish. Maybe she’ll vacation around Thanksgiving.

But this doesn’t fit today’s politics. Public opinion polls in California and elsewhere show the suburban electorate to be in a decidedly nonactivist, even self-absorbed, frame of mind. Voters don’t want to dismantle favorite government programs, such as Medicare, but don’t want to do anything big or risky either.

I saw that Saturday walking through a pleasant San Pedro residential area near the water with Harman’s opponent, Republican Susan Brooks, who was going door to door in search of votes.

Brooks was given to long conversations with the strangers she met while precinct walking. It slowed her up, but gave me a chance for an in-depth examination of at least a few voters.

We stopped at a corner home. Homeowner Gary Mendez was in the driveway, just back from an excursion with his two small children.

Mendez’s main concern was his inability to get a home improvement loan for his house, which had declined in value from the $365,000 he had paid for it to $270,000.

The government should help, as it does when places are subject to natural disaster. The recession, and the accompanying collapse of the real estate market, was a disaster, he said. “Could California qualify as a disaster area? Then I could get a loan.”

He didn’t want government built up, or torn down. All he wanted was help to put on a new roof, replace defective windows and add a room for the kids.

Mendez was not alone in his concern for his immediate problems. Down the street, a woman was angry over her property taxes, and said she was voting for Proposition 218, the tax limit measure on the ballot. “I haven’t even thought about Congress yet,” she said.

Harman dealt with such voters by coming across as a hands-on representative who took care of constituents’ practical needs--preserving Medicare and building up business to create jobs.

Happily for her, the approach also resonated with another part of her constituency, business. Campaign contributions illustrated the extent that big business was supporting her.

Check out the list. It’s the power brokers of the arms race on parade: Major aerospace and defense contributors like General Atomics, Goodyear Aerospace, Boeing, Hughes, Northrop Grumman, Motorola, United Technologies, Rockwell, McDonnell Douglas and General Electric.

Part of the old liberal Democratic constituency--labor unions and environmental groups--contributed, too. But business will be at least their equal in the fierce competition for Jane Harman’s support when the new Congress convenes.

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This kind of accommodation has permitted candidates such as Harman and Bill Clinton to compete and win in the suburbs once thought to be the Republicans’ exclusive domain.

To win, the new Democrats pretty much abandoned their former turf, the inner city.

The old Democratic lions, like the late Hubert Humphrey, wouldn’t recognize this new Democratic crowd, dominated by political bean counters. But neither would the lions of the right, who also knew how to stir emotions--Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.

They got people mad. They sent people home cheering and steaming.

The old Democrats ended their campaigns with rallies in the heart of big cities. And afterward, the bars were open.

Harman ended her campaign with a bike ride from San Pedro to Venice. A perfect match for a President who jogs.

Boring, maybe, but it works.