Bradley Says He’s Unsure on Ad Strategy

Democratic challenger for governor Tom Bradley said Monday he was unsure from the beginning whether voters would be moved by his controversial attacks on Republican Gov. George Deukmejian’s management of toxic waste and the insurance industry.

The Los Angeles mayor told a breakfast gathering of reporters Wednesday he will stick with the strategy but is prepared to change if it doesn’t produce results.

“I really don’t know at this point whether we’re going to be able to make that case on toxics or insurance or the other problems,” the mayor said. “Nobody knows when you start whether you’re going to be able to get the message across.

Bradley discounted the findings of a new Mervin D. Field California Poll released this week showing the mayor 22 points behind Deukmejian. The results are out of date, Bradley argued, because the poll was conducted before he began his statewide television advertising assault on the governor almost two weeks ago.

In the hourlong question-and-answer assessment of his underdog candidacy, Bradley also spelled out in plain language the difficult challenge he faces in trying to rouse voters out of economic contentment and interest them in selecting a different governor.

Pollster Field, in a survey conducted May 2 through May 7, found Bradley favored by only 36% of the voters and Deukmejian by 58%. This represented a steady erosion of Bradley’s standing in the poll from a high point last August when he led Deukmejian 50% to 44%. The margin of error in the poll figures is 4% either way. (Bradley and Deukmejian each face only token opposition in their respective June 3 primaries.)

For his part, Deukmejian took cheer from the results but tempered it with a reminder that the election is more than five months away.

“Obviously, I’m delighted,” the governor remarked in Sacramento. “As I’ve said many times in the past, especially when I was behind, they’re (polls) good for about 15 minutes. When you are ahead, they’re good for an hour. I’m enjoying that hour right now. But there is still a long ways to go. We are going to continue to run a very aggressive campaign.”

Field said there was a “strong sense of economic well-being” that motivated voters to favor the incumbent Deukmejian in the November general election rematch with Bradley. Four of 10 Democrats favor Deukmejian, Field said.

Negative Ad Campaign

One day after Field concluded his poll, Bradley began a strongly negative television advertising campaign against the governor’s leadership and record in protecting the public against toxic pollution.

“We had not done our television ads (before the poll) and I think it’s too early to know whether our strategy is working. . . . We can’t measure that, and we did not. And Field certainly, having come when he did, didn’t measure that.

“We are not going to take anything for granted. We are not going to assume that the strategy is incorrect,” Bradley added.

Question: Do you have any alternate plans if it doesn’t work?

“Try something different.”

Bradley conceded that his big challenge is that economic good times make it hard to dislodge an incumbent governor.

“I know that’s the common political wisdom. We are attempting to disprove it,” Bradley said. “I think it depends on whether . . . we can get across the message dealing not with economics, but with leadership.”