The power of a simple message: how a 27-year-old with a famous name won a Democratic Congressional primary in California.

With all of the details involved in a contemporary campaign, you often can't tell the proverbial "forest from the trees". As helpful as they may be, endorsements, press events, ground troops, and even an effective fundraising operation occasionally take a backseat in party primaries to the power of a simple message.

So was the case in one race this past Spring. Faced with an ideologically similar opponent who had landed heady every endorsement and created a strong fundraising operation, a simple, visual message played a decisive role in ex-White House aide Michela Alioto's victory in the First District Democratic Congressional primary in northern California.

It was last summer when California Democrats started targeting key races for this year's congressional elections. Near the top of that list was First District Cong. Frank Riggs (R).

Riggs had defeated incumbent Dan Hamburg (D) in the big GOP tidal wave of 1994 with 53 percent, despite the fact that the district went heavily for Clinton in '92 and even gave Dukakis a four-point win in '88. By any measure, it is one of the strongest Democratic performing districts in the nation to be held by a Republican.

Lopsided Support

The most prominent Democrat to emerge as a possible contender was Santa Rosa state Senator Mike Thompson (D) - the party leadership was ready to unify behind the popular legislator in the hope of avoiding an expensive primary battle. But Thompson decided against running. Instead, he went to work recruiting a candidate. His choice: Monica Marvin, an attorney from St. Helena with little political background.

Marvin soon picked up important endorsements, including the state Democratic Party, California Teachers Association, National Women's Political Caucus, Assemblywoman Valerie Brown, American Nurses, former Congressman Hamburg, the Napa-Solano Central Labor Council, the Sierra Club, and EMILY's List, the highly effective money-generator for pro-choice Democratic women.

Despite the lopsided political support, winning the primary would be no cake walk for the St. Helena lawyer. Running against Marvin was 27 year-old Michela Alioto, granddaughter of former two-term San Francisco Mayor Joe Alioto (D) and niece of unsuccessful 1995 mayoral candidate Angela Alioto (D). If elected, Alioto would become the youngest female ever sent to the U.S. House.

Confined to a wheelchair from a 1981 skiing accident, Alioto used some of the money she won in a legal case resulting from her accident as seed money for the campaign, which began with a $100,000 personal loan but eventually blossomed into a sizable $300,000 subsidy by primary day, March 26.

A San Francisco native, Alioto had moved to St. Helena, California, from Washington, D.C. in May of '95, after her stint as a domestic policy advisor to Vice-President Al Gore. With a well-known family name, a compelling personal story of triumph over adversity, an attractive appearance and a likable demeanor, Alioto offered strong candidate appeal. But her youth and lack of career experience was a drawback. Her job in the White House was knocked as a "glorified staff assistant" position. These candidate weaknesses steered many party leaders and women's groups away from her and toward Marvin.

The other major player to enter the race was ex-San Francisco Supervisor Carol Ruth Silver (D). Initially, local political observers thought the race would boil down to Silver and Marvin; but fundraising problems plagued Silver's candidacy from the beginning.

At the outset, Marvin and Silver were viewed by party operatives as more moderate in their liberalism than the youthful Alioto; an important calculation, considering that district Democrats feared being cast as a "lefty" in the mold of the defeated Hamburg.

California's early primary - held in March instead of the traditional June date - was a factor in Alioto's strategic timing. A Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin poll conducted for Alioto showed that over 90 percent of the electorate was unaware of the change. Marvin media consultant Paul Kinney would later comment that "the simple Alioto message caught on because little else was going on."

Alioto may have been youthful and inexperienced as a politician, but she was no underdog in this race. Polls showed the 27-year-old actually started with a slight lead and had a solid base in the district's southern counties, in suburban San Francisco. But most of the political pros believed her early polling status was based on borrowed name recognition, an advantage that would quickly fade in the face of wide-ranging political opposition in a low-turnout primary.

According to Alioto manager Tom Pier, their campaign went on the air six weeks out and was matched "buy for buy" by the Marvin campaign. Alioto TV spots featured the candidate talking to seniors, children and blue-collar workers. Direct mail pieces told a strong visual story, some of which featured Vice President Al Gore (for whom Alioto had previously worked), and were targeted at seniors and labor.

Alioto's media message blended a soft visual appeal - emphasizing compassion and caring for people in need - with a hard substantive pitch. Her major issue thrust was a strong expression of opposition to corporate special interests and efforts by Newt Gingrich and Republicans in Congress to cut programs for seniors and children.

Because the Democratic candidates agreed on most issues, Alioto's simple visual and compelling personal story were getting traction where the other candidates were having trouble connecting with voters. Marvin was the first to react, quickly labeling Alioto and Silver "carpetbaggers" - San Francisco natives who had only moved north to run for the seat. One Marvin ad, entitled "Moving Van," showed a moving truck crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, beside still photos of her two major opponents.

Marvin's ads tied everything to her roots in the district. One TV spot, which featured her long list of endorsements, began with the words, "because she's from our district." It ended with the tag line: "From here, for us." The effectiveness of the "carpetbagger" attack is debatable. Kinney claims that it worked in Humboldt, the northernmost county, which Marvin eventually won. Pier argues that "the large military population in the Southern part of the district resented the 'carpetbagger' comments." Alioto media consultant Bill Carrick said the electorate had "a very low appetite for negatives," and tuned out the attack ads.

THE TOTEBOARD

THE HORSES, HANDLERS, WAGERS and PAYOFFS

                    MICHELA ALIOTO (D)        MONICA MARVIN (D)

Manager:            Tom Pier                  Brian Blum
Media:              Morris & Carrick          Paul Kinney Prod.
Mail:               Ambrosino & Muir          Terris & Jaye
Polling:            Fairbank, Maslin          Belden & Russonello
Spending:           $378,000                  $489,000
Votes:              28,526(41%)               22,822(33%)
$ Per Vote:         $13.25                    $21.43

Silver Bullet 

Going into the home stretch, it was quickly becoming apparent that Silver's lack of money had effectively turned the primary into a two-way race between Alioto and Marvin. Interestingly, the Marvin camp did not conduct any polling after their initial benchmark survey, and according to Kinney, they did not fully appreciate the extent to which Alioto, and not Silver, was their most significant opponent.

Meanwhile, the well focused Alioto campaign only veered from its tight message once. The Napa paper ran a scathing editorial, claiming Marvin had a "poor understanding of the issues." A week later it endorsed the St. Helena lawyer. In an effort to salvage the southern county, the Alioto campaign reprinted the original article in a mail piece. Napa was one of only two counties Alioto lost.

The Marvin camp thought it had found the silver bullet late in the campaign when reports surfaced that Alioto had not voted in the previous four elections. They cut a TV spot and dropped a mail piece on the matter, but it was too little and too late. Kinney claims that the spot was getting some attention and, "given another week, we may have been able to pull it out." But there was no more time.

In a surprisingly high primary day voter turnout, Alioto beat Marvin by eight points. She carried the Southern Counties of Solerno, Sonoma and Lake by wide margins, while Marvin pulled well in the North, and squeaked out a lead in Napa.

Evaluating lessons learned from the experience, Kinney lamented the convoluted decision-making process in Marvin's camp. The time spent searching for effective ammunition against the opposition didn't yield worthwhile results and, as a result, Marvin's message suffered.

Reflecting on his client's win, consultant Carrick agreed, saying that Marvin's campaign seemed to get "bogged down advertising their endorsements." He, too, credited Alioto's simple, strong, visual message for the unexpectedly large triumph. Now, the big question is whether Alioto can carry that momentum and message to another victory on November 5.

In any event, the general election promises to be highly competitive. According to a Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin poll completed in early June, Riggs started off with a two-point lead over his young rival.