The race ends today

Many predicted San Francisco's mayoral race would be a stormy affair -- but little did they know this bitter-cold battle could at last be decided by Mother Nature herself.

As heavy rain and near gale-force winds pelted the city Monday afternoon, the plan of attack for the Frank Jordan and Willie Brown camps shifted gears dramatically.

No longer is winning over the last remaining fence-sitters top priority, they say. Getting those already committed to weather the storm and make it to their local polling place today is crucial in what has become a tight battle between the incumbent and the former assemblyman.

"This one is going to be decided by voter turnout," said Jordan campaigner Steven McVeigh. "A lot of different issues were thrown out during the campaign, but now it really comes down to who shows up to vote."

Brown press secretary Pat Reilly said the camp's 600 precinct workers will be out in force today handing out umbrellas and slickers to voters, providing door-to-door delivery for the elderly and generally making sure people don't waive their vote due to the elements.

"Had the enthusiasm for Willie Brown dampened, we may be a little bit concerned (about the rain)," Reilly said. "But right now, we're red-hot."

Jordan's camp has a different view.

If the mayor's constituents come out in force, four more years could easily become reality for the self-proclaimed progressive Democrat, Jordan's people believe. The camp is now counting on an unanticipated advantage in absentee ballots to carry the mayor to victory. Jordan press secretary Lewis Sheppard said his campaign has an estimated 32,000 votes in the bank via absentee ballots -- 30 percent more than Brown.

"We're winning," Sheppard said with an excitable inflection absent in previous weeks. "We're doing much better in the absentee race than we anticipated, and our precinct operation is going very well."

The sentiment of many of Jordan's supporters is that Jordan's late surge -- after trailing by a 2 to 1 margin after the general election -- has been based upon his motto of "Trust." Just days after hundreds of signs emblazoned with those five simple letters dotted the city, the Jordan camp unveiled its second tier of the trust campaign: a picture of a smiling Brown beside the word "Mistrust" in bold black lettering.

The attempt to focus on the assemblyman's dealings with special interest groups, including tobacco companies, gambling interests, developers and the liquor lobby, drew the ire of the Brown camp, as well as the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which claimed the black-and-white signs intended to make it a black-and-white issue.

"Give me a break," said Sheppard. "That's just a desperate attempt (by Brown's people) to side-step the issues. Every newspaper up and down the state has written editorials talking about Brown's shady dealings -- it's well chronicled. Those charges are entirely without foundation. It just shows their desperation."

Not so, said the Brown camp.

"It's a sad day when the Jordan campaign stoops so low to play on the emotions of the people," Alex Pitcher, president of the NAACP San Francisco chapter and a Brown contributor, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "It's obvious that because Willie Brown is black and leading, they are trying to make it a black-white issue."

The third tier of Jordan's trust campaign began circulating around the city late Saturday, as both he and Jordan began their get-out-the-vote efforts with weekend rallies.

"A word so private that lovers use it to describe their bond," begins an eight-page pamphlet distributed by the Jordan camp, "so private that it describes the feeling of security a father inspires in a daughter or a mother in a son. TRUST is a private statement of faith in another person's willingness to consider and act in your interest."

The next seven pages are dedicated to slamming Brown's track record in Sacramento and praising Jordan's mayoral triumphs. The flier notes Brown's representation of Renan Uribe, "a Cali cartel drug kingpin from Columbia," lists the breakdown of his special interest contributors and documents legal counsel he gave to greedy developers and tobacco interests.

The last three pages contain Jordan endorsements from former San Francisco mayors Dianne Feinstein, Joseph Alioto and George Christopher, a copy of the Chronicle's endorsement and a list of Jordan's claimed accomplishments, including: the creation of 5,000 new jobs, a decrease in crime, the stepped-up enforcement of aggressive panhandling and the appointment of women to key staff positions.

Meanwhile, Brown's late-race efforts were a bit more low-key. A large crowd gathered Saturday morning outside rally headquarters in the Mission District, as Brown took the podium with a cast of supporters -- including former mayor Art Agnos -- to pound home his continuing message and give a bit of a pep talk to voters.

"We need to mobilize like we've never done before," he told the crowd. "You've done it since June 3 (when Brown entered the race), and we're now in the ninth inning and several runs ahead. I can pitch a shutout, and if you get out to vote on Tuesday, this will be a no-hitter."

Sunday, Brown made a quick visit back to the Mission, moved on to the Castro District, made an appearance at St. Andrew's Missionary in the Fillmore and capped the day off with a trip down to Pier 23 at the wharf.

In the meantime, Jordan spent part of his Sunday afternoon walking Clement Street in the Richmond District, shaking hands and giving a hearty smile to all he encountered.

"We're working hard," the mayor said as some 30 raucously-chanting, TRUST-sign toting Jordan supporters followed closely behind. "I think the trust campaign is going well. It at least appears to be getting people to think (about the credibility of Brown)."

And perhaps more importantly, the campaign is getting people's minds off the now-infamous shower incident with Los Angeles disc jockeys Mark & Brian, which left Jordan all wet with his conservative constituents and trailing by an estimated 2-1 margin after the Nov. 7 general election.

"The shower incident pushed us into second place, without a doubt," said Sheppard. "But since then we've been able to close the gap considerably."

The gap has closed, but Jordan's camp knows all too well the nature of politics -- and the drawing power of slick Willie Brown.

"We're fighting hard, but we're up against a tough combatant," said Sheppard. "If Willie Brown squeaks this one out, it will be a sad commentary on what a slick politician can do in this day and age."

[ Golden Gater Online December 12, 1995 ]

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