DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION DELEGATE CANDIDATES GET A TASTE OF CAMPAIGN.

Byline: David R. Baker Staff Writer

TARZANA - As the presidential candidates stumped for votes Sunday in frozen Iowa, Oak Park High School senior Jesse Gabriel faced his own political test in Tarzana.

He and 28 other residents of the 24th Congressional District faced off against each other Sunday to become Vice President Al Gore's local delegates to the Democratic National Convention. A few stops west on the Ventura Freeway, at El Camino Real High School, other Democrats vied to represent rival Bill Bradley.

All were engaged in one of the most intensely local elements of a presidential campaign - the selection of delegates. It's hardly a glamorous or powerful job in either major party. But for Gabriel, it represented a chance to get involved.

``It would be an unbelievable experience,'' said Gabriel, 18, the president of his class and founder of his school's Young Democrats club. ``Plus, I'd like to represent the views of young people. I think they're really unrepresented.''

Those attending the Gore caucus Sunday, at the Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center auditorium, also got a chance to hear the man they support for president speaking via conference call from Iowa.

``It's good to know you're already out there, working hard, excited about keeping the White House,'' Gore said in a call piped into 52 caucuses throughout California on Sunday.

Delegates are chosen by a complex process that involves both direct votes and ratios. At each caucus, potential delegates are ranked in order of the number of votes they receive. Then, following the March primary, the presidential candidates divvy up the total number of delegates according to which candidate received the most votes in the primary. If Bradley, for example, gets more votes than Gore in the primary, he'll have more California delegates to the national convention.

Those seeking the job range from students like Gabriel, to working parents, to retirees. Some of those making minutelong speeches at Sunday's Gore caucus emphasized their youth. Others played up their age.

``My opponents are all younger - they'll have other opportunities to attend Democratic National Conventions,'' said Samuel Goldfarb, 79, a retired lawyer from Sherman Oaks. ``This is my last hurrah.''

The line drew a huge laugh from the 80-odd people packed into the room. And that's part of the battle - getting people to like you enough to vote for you.

``This is just like an election, getting your supporters to come here, going around and meeting people,'' said Rachel Metson, a 21-year-old political science major at the University of California, Los Angeles.

After internships with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the last Bill Clinton-Al Gore presidential campaign and the British House of Commons, Metson saw this as the next logical step. ``It's experience at a very grass-roots level,'' she said.

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Photo: Convention delegate candidate Rachel Metson, center, greets Helyn Friedman during the selection caucus for the 24th Congressional district.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer