Turning Zschau Around

By Jane Hunter

Many who were impressed by Rep. Ed Zschau's (R-CA) thoughtful, independent performance on the House Foreign Affairs Committee anticipated that an informed discussion of U.S. foreign policy, including the seldom-discussed Middle East, would be a hallmark of his campaign for the U.S. Senate. The California Senate race which pits Zschau against three-term incumbent Alan Cranston is certain to attract national attention, as the Democrats must retain California if they are to gain control of the upper house. However, the prospect of Ed Zschau and Alan Cranston, one of Israel's leading supporters, engaging in a debate on the Middle East does not appear likely.

In May, as Zschau, a two-term congressman from Los Altos in California's Silicon Valley, began to climb in the polls, his opponents in the Republican primary attacked his voting record on Israel. They singled out votes Zschau had cast on the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement and on an emergency supplemental appropriation for Israel in 1985, charging that he did not support Israel strongly enough.

Zschau explained that he had voted against an early version of the Free Trade Agreement-legislation passed last year that allows Israeli goods into the U.S. duty-free-out of concern that it would harm California's agricultural sector. As to the aid bill, Zschau had introduced an amendment that would have shaved off 5 percent of world-wide U.S. economic assistance, amounting to $75 million of the $1.5 billion designated for Israel. In both cases, Zschau voted for the final bills granting Israel free-trade status and the full assistance package.

Then one of the Republican candidates, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, told a Jewish audience that Zschau had hired staff members of what the San Francisco Examiner described as "a former congressman with pro-Arab sympathies." Zschau's staff decried this "guilt by association."

These attacks did not cause much of a stir in a tumultuous primary field of 13 candidates. The media had little space for more than a description of the candidates, and Zschau came off very well on that score. A philosophy major at Princeton, he went on to earn two business degrees at Stanford. He later taught business there and at Harvard. In 1968 he started System Industries, which produces memory systems for computers and which made Ed Zschau, now 46, a wealthy man.

On June 4, the day after Zschau turned in a come-from-behind win in the primary, incumbent Alan Cranston commenced an aggressive media campaign criticizing Zschau's attitude toward Israel. Cranston's charge that Zschau had "an almost unbroken four-year record of hostility to Israel" was a key part of an overall "game plan" to, in the words of Cranston's campaign manager, "define" Zschau for California voters before he had a chance to define himself.

Courting California Voters from Tel Aviv

Coming after the hard-fought primary, the Cranston attack put Zschau on the defensive. His campaign decided that a trip to Israel would demonstrate his commitment to its permanence.

While Zschau was in Israel—he met there with Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and a number of Knesset members—four former presidents of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation Council said they would issue a letter urging voters to reject him on the basis of his voting record.

Cranston called Zschau's trip "a quickie public relations trip." Later he called a press conference to distribute a letter he had sent Zschau. The letter "welcomed" Zschau home from his "trip of atonement." Zschau held his own posttrip press conference, at which he was joined by a dozen Jewish supporters.

Other—unidentified—Jewish leaders confided to the San Francisco Chronicle that while they favored Cranston, they were distressed that he would drag them into "an ugly public debate over loyalty to Israel." However, Cranston told reporters that his attacks on Zschau had helped him raise money from Jewish groups.

It is commonly held that when he turned his sights to the Senate, Zschau did have to sacrifice some of the freewheeling independence that had characterized his representation of a fairly liberal district (his predecessor was maverick Republican Paul McCloskey, Jr.). In Northern California that independence had won Zschau respect from across the political spectrum. He was admired as an earnest and thoughtful legislator, willing to hold on-camera discussions with constituents over such issues as aid to the anti-Sandinista "contra" mercenaries and willing to change his vote when persuaded by the evidence.

Now Ed Zschau refutes Cranston's charges that his votes on Israel—and on other issues such as the arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the MX missile, chemical weapons, the nuclear freeze, South Africa, and Central America—have been inconsistent: "Alan Cranston doesn't read the legislation. There are different bills and different details in them ... I vote differently when the legislation changes."

Zschau says his vote last spring to sell an arms package to Saudi Arabia was cast in support of the Republican Administration, but that now he does not support such sales. His campaign spokesman Jim LeMunyon explains that offering arms to pro-U.S. Arab governments "is not the best way to the peace table."

Two one-hour television debates, one of those between Zschau and Cranston, the other including as well the three minor party candidates, have been offered by the League of Women Voters, but arrangements have yet to be finalized. Whatever the final format of the debates, the Zschau campaign does not expect U.S. policy in the Middle East to be a major issue of contention.

Ironing Out Their Differences

Zschau maintains that there are only minor differences between the two candidates' positions on Israel: "We have a commitment to the permanence of Israel, to the security and stability of Israel, and that we use not only our economic aid . . . and our military assistance."

As to the achievement of peace in the Middle East, Zschau campaign spokesman Jim LeMunyon says there are "no substantive differences" between the two campaigns, although, he added, "Cranston would like to think so." The Zschau campaign will be talking about "fostering a peace environment" through the use of quiet diplomacy in the Middle East. Such a climate, said LeMunyon, might well precede a signed peace agreement.

A Cranston spokesman put that campaign's position on Israel in a nutshell: "Israel is our only true ally and the only strong democracy in the Middle East." Peace in the region, according to the Cranston spokesman, will come through the recognition of Israel by its Arab neighbors, who will then sit down and talk with it.

Another form of television, 30 and 60-second spots, will consume a major chunk of the $ 10 to $12 million each campaign expects to spend. LeMunyon says that about 90 percent of the money Zschau raises will be from California individuals and businesses. The California high tech sector is one natural source of funds for Zschau. David Packard, a co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard Company, heads his campaign finance committee.

The Cranston campaign has set its sights on raising $11 million, and says most of that will come from California, Cranston has always done well raising funds in the business community and he can count on money from labor, environmental, and nuclear disarmament groups as well as from Jewish donors.

Once his campaign begins in earnest the ante might well be raised. Cranston, the Minority Whip in the Senate, is 72 years old. His gaunt appearance and his failed 1984 presidental campaign are often noted as drawbacks. Cranston's previous opponents have been right-wing ideologues. He has never before faced an attractive, moderate candidate.

If Zschau manages to close the 13-point gap indicated by a mid-August poll, more money might start coming in from out of state. In the case of the Cranston campaign, some of that money would certainly come from the pro-Israel PACs, which have played an increasingly important role in federal elections.

Jane Hunter is the editor and publisher of Israeli Foreign Affairs, 5825 Telegraph Ave. No. 34, Oakland, California 94609.