The Hahn Referendum

But Hahn’s quiet personality also gives voters little to hang onto. He is, his detractors like to say, the mayor who wasn’t there.

Villaraigosa scores highest on name ID,but the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor has backed Hahn this time, which means that the mayor, and not Villaraigosa, may claim the support of that other set of progressives — not the heirs to the good-government reformers of the last century, but the labor- and social-justice-oriented bloc that champions the ill-housed immigrant working class.

Villaraigosa’s frustrations at reclaiming his base became clear when he announced his candidacy. At a private forum for mayoral candidates hosted by African-American clergy last year, he made his best pitch for the support of progressive black voters.

"In many ways my candidacy represents the second coming of Tom Bradley," Villaraigosa told the preachers.

He meant, by that, that he had the background, the organizing and legislative track record and the coalition-building skills to make the best mayor for struggling families, in the same way that 20-year mayor Bradley did when he was first elected in 1973. Villaraigosa was rewarded with polite applause, but many of those present apparently brushed by the "my candidacy represents" part and focused in on the "second coming" remark. "He’s the second coming of Tom Bradley?" demanded one clergyman privately. "Excuse me?"

At another forum, on the Eastside, Villaraigosa acknowledged some unhappiness with his second run for mayor in light of his promise to serve out his term as councilman, but he predicted that his community would respond to his message and ultimately back him up with about 60 percent of their votes.

"Did you hear him?" asked one of the organizers of the group, which went on to endorse Richard Alarcón. "He said that no matter what we do he’s still going to get 60 percent of us. Can you imagine the nerve of this guy?"

Villaraigosa is continuing to try to reassemble the progressive coalition that launched him to the top spot in the mayoral primary four years ago, and he has raised campaign funds at an aggressive pace. But he’s been frustrated by a late start and, so far, the inability to recapture the magic that seemed to pervade his 2001 campaign.

So if the primary question for Hahn is "Can we trust you," there are two questions for Villaraigosa: Can you advance an agenda for Los Angeles that moves beyond the measures Hahn has taken that won him the endorsement of key labor unions that formerly backed you? And can we count on you, this time, to commit to a full term as mayor, after breaking your vow not to run?

For Parks, who continues to chide and to charm, voters will remind themselves that as police chief he opposed the LAPD consent decree and the shortened work week for officers, and railed against City Hall control over the police department. The question for him is, To what extent will you attempt to reverse the changes that have been made at the LAPD?

For Hertzberg, perhaps the top question at this point is, "Who are you?" Is he the Jewish candidate, the business candidate, the Valley candidate, the policy-wonk candidate? He may be all of that, or none of it, but he has yet to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. And voters don’t always have a very long attention span.

Then there is Alarcón. Perhaps the best question for him is, "Are you for real?" He has excelled at the televised debates but has yet to be embraced by large numbers of backers with money and endorsements.

There will be questions for all of them — many of which will be asked at two debates sponsored by the city’s young neighborhood councils. These councils, born in the city’s last major reform effort, nurtured by Hahn (but not enough, the challengers contend), represent the city’s most likely voters, the people who take the time to become involved in city governance. It’s not yet clear whether these councils represent only the heirs of Progressivism, with a capital P, and will focus on crime, corruption, and preservation of the single-family homeowner lifestyle. Or whether they also represent that other, more recent, small-p progressive movement that embraces the needs of the struggling labor and immigrant class.