To hear White House political advisers tell it, Clinton owes Mike Woo a debt because Woo was an early and steadfast Clinton supporter during the ‘92 presidential campaign. This is mostly bunk: Woo was hardly decisive in carrying L.A. for Clinton. In fact, Riordan’s campaign chief, William Wardlaw, was chairman of the Clinton California campaign. So why would Clinton take the risk of intervening in a local election on behalf of a candidate who could quite easily lose? The calculations run deep. California is pivotal to Clinton’s chances in 1996, just as it was in ‘92. And Clinton can win friends among the state’s Democratic leaders, many of whom are backing Woo, by showing up to help this earnest young Chinese-American. The bottom line, according to White House sources, is that Clinton is expected to put his prestige on the line by endorsing Woo.
The payoff for Woo is Clinton’s help in increasing minority turnout for the June 8 election. Riordan, who describes himself as an “Eisenhower Republican” and emphasizes his philanthropic activities in L.A.’s poorer neighborhoods, has nonetheless based his campaign on the promise to add 3,000 officers to the L.A. Police Department. Woo says he’ll add more cops, too. But Riordan is the law-and-order candidate-to him, L.A. has become a “war zone.” That gives him a clear edge among white voters, especially in the San Fernando Valley. Although the city’s overall population is 60 percent Latino, black and Asian-American, Anglo residents are still 65 percent of all registered voters. Turnout in the primary four weeks ago was only 34 percent, and some analysts think it may sink even lower on June 8. As a result, Woo desperately needs to persuade black and Latino voters to go to the polls if he is to overcome Riordan’s edge among whites.
These demographics are the reality behind the political symbolism of the race. Woo, like Bradley, stands for ethnic accommodation in a city that is increasingly fearful of its simmering tensions. Riordan stands for getting tough. So the mayoral election in some respects is a test of L.A.’s tradition of easygoing, apolitical tolerance-and could now become a test of Bill Clinton’s political clout as well.
