Campaign of 25-Year-Old Padilla Is One for the Ages
John F. Kennedy wrote his first book in his 20s. Einstein was making scientific breakthroughs at 26.
Those are some of the examples of youthful achievement being offered by the campaign of 25-year-old Alex Padilla to counter charges from other candidates in the 7th District race that he may be too young to serve on the Los Angeles City Council.
A mailer citing Kennedy and Einstein is in the works, and Padilla has begun touting his age as an advantage at public appearances.
Perhaps because Padilla has endorsements from Mayor Richard Riordan, the County Federation of Labor and others, Padilla has become the focus of barbs from fellow contenders including Corinne Sanchez, who often tells audiences that she has spent more years on community service in the northeast San Fernando Valley than Padilla has spent out of a cradle.
“We’re not going to give Corinne the youth hit unchallenged,” said Rick Taylor, who is Padilla’s campaign consultant and putting the finishing touches on the Kennedy mailer.
“We’re basically going to show that there have been some great young leaders and tie that to what Alex has done,” Taylor said, noting that Padilla has a degree from MIT and has already managed major political campaigns for others.
Padilla has also gone on the offensive in speeches, telling audiences that his youth represents new ideas and a new vision as an alternative to the tired ideas of old.
But a Sanchez campaign manager said it is presumptuous to compare Padilla with Kennedy and Einstein.
“What has he done that is remarkable?” asked Jorge Flores, a Sanchez campaign spokesperson. “He’s got to have something to back it up.”
Sanchez also is sending out a youth-oriented mailer, but she is focusing on her agenda for improving youth programs in Los Angeles, according to Flores.
*
INTO THE CANNON’S MOUTH: Riordan spent time in the San Fernando Valley this week stumping for his candidates in city and school elections, asserting they will help carry out badly needed reforms of city government and the school system.
The mayor attended a fund-raiser Tuesday night at the Encino home of attorney and Valley activist Ben Reznik. About 100 Riordan friends including Ted Stein attended the event, raising $30,000 for Padilla’s campaign--about a third of what he had previously raised.
“I think very highly of him,” Riordan said afterward. “He’s a bright young kid who has a tremendous education.”
Earlier in the day, Riordan was touting Caprice Young, one of the four challengers on his slate of candidates for the Los Angeles school board.
With major financial backing from the mayor and his allies, Young is seeking to unseat Jeff Horton, the incumbent in the 3rd District, which includes parts of Sun Valley, North Hollywood, Studio City and Toluca Lake.
Appearing with Young, Riordan told a group of Republican activists at a lunch in Tarzana that his slate “will have the backbone to remove incompetent bureaucrats” from the school district.
Once again, he said the school board’s failure to reform the school system is “evil.”
One questioner asked Riordan whether the current school board members could be prosecuted for child neglect or a special master could be appointed to run the district.
“I wish I had that kind of power but I don’t,” Riordan said. He added, jokingly, “We could have summary executions.”
*
THE MARRYING KIND: Love is in the air at the Pasadena district office of State Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank).
Wedding bells aren’t far behind. And Schiff himself is right in the middle of things.
No, Schiff isn’t tying the knot; he’s already married.
Instead, Schiff will be doing the next closest thing Sept. 26 at Descanso Gardens in La Canada-Flintridge--he’ll be doing the marrying.
Taking advantage of a legal quirk that allows legislators to perform marriage ceremonies, Schiff will preside over the wedding of two of his aides, Paul Hubler and Patty Rhee.
“A couple of my colleagues had performed ceremonies before, and so I knew this was something I could do,” Schiff said. “I was absolutely excited when I heard they were engaged, and I was petrified when they asked me to do the ceremony. I always get nervous at weddings.”
After deciding to get hitched, and convincing Schiff to do it for them, Rhee and Hubler notified their Sacramento colleagues with a lark only a political aide could conjure up: a news release, announcing “Senator Brings People Closer Together.”
“That’s how they found out about it,” Hubler, 34, said of the coming nuptials. “They were in shock.”
Although their friends think their choice is a gas, not everyone in Rhee’s family was thrilled with the decision to have a politician perform their wedding vows, she said.
But for a romance sprung from the partisan world of politics, it seemed like a logical choice.
Just think: What if the priest had turned out to be a Republican?
“It’s not the traditional thing,” Rhee acknowledged. “My family is very religious; they would probably prefer a pastor. But they’ve accepted it, I guess. For us, it means more to have Adam do it.”
