By William Booth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 25, 1998; Page A3

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24 – While the other youngsters went to play sandlot ball, little Matt Fong remembers ringing doorbells after school and passing out political propaganda, a canvasser in short pants working hard to get his mom elected to the first of what became a lifetime of political offices here in California.

And so Matt Fong had earned some awesome street credibility in the Democratic Party, where his mother, March Fong Eu, is a widely admired matriarch.

Except that Fong, a lawyer, former Air Force officer and now state treasurer, turned into a Republican sometime in the 1980s. He is now the GOP challenger trying to take away Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer's seat this November in a race that is both close and closely watched. If Republicans can manage to pick up five seats in the Senate they will hold a filibuster-proof majority of 60 senators.

After narrowly winning his primary election against car-alarm mogul Darrell Issa in June, the 44-year-old Fong is suddenly in a dead heat against Boxer. Two recent statewide polls put Boxer a few points in the lead, but in a statistical tie with Fong.

"This is going to be a very close race," Boxer said. "I will be going after every vote."

The two candidates will meet for their first debate Wednesday in Los Angeles. And many here think the coming contest could get interesting, as it pits a liberal female incumbent with close ties to the Clintons against a Chinese American conservative, in a state where Asian Americans and women could provide the votes to tip the balance.

The outcome, too, may be influenced by turnout, which could be light. According to both Democratic and Republican scenarios, low voter numbers should boost Fong's prospects.

There are none of those big hot-button propositions that California is famous for on the November ballot, and at the top of the ticket, the gubernatorial race has so far been a mostly dull affair between two party lifers. Moreover, the state – after its years of recession, earthquake and riots – has been experiencing something of a "Happy Days" rerun, with the economy humming along and the natural disasters at bay.

"They've got to do something to break through and reach generally satisfied voters and I'm not sure what that is," said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, an independent political analyst with the Claremont Graduate School.

Boxer was elected to the Senate in 1992, during the so-called Year of the Woman. As a House member, she took strong positions in defense of Anita F. Hill in her accusations against Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing, and she also was highly critical of then-Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.), who was accused of making unwanted advances toward aides and others.

It is less clear this year if being a female candidate will prove an asset. It did not help Rep. Jane Harman, who came in third in California's Democratic gubernatorial primary, despite never passing up the opportunity to remind voters of her gender. Moreover, Californians already have Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), making the case for gender politics much weaker.

Both national party organizations plan on pouring resources – and appearances by leading Democrats and Republicans – into the state. GOP stalwarts such as Jack Kemp, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (Miss.) and New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani all are planning to come to the state to campaign for Fong.

Boxer will be bringing in Democratic heavy hitters, including Vice President Gore and President Clinton.

It is too early to know how the ongoing investigation of Clinton's relationship with former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky will play out with voters in the largest, and arguably most powerful, state in the nation.

On the subject, Boxer said: "I feel it was wrong, but having said that, what can we do now? I think what we do now is work with this president." Boxer said that while Clinton must repair the credibility damage "on the personal side of his life," on the issues Californians care most about "the people approve of his policies."

Boxer shares a personal relationship with the Clintons. Her daughter, Nicole, is married to Hillary Rodham Clinton's brother, Tony Rodham.

So far, the Fong campaign has stayed away from making too much publicly of the Boxer-Clinton connection, perhaps unsure what voters think.

In many ways, the Senate race may mirror the gubernatorial contest between GOP Attorney General Dan Lungren and Democratic Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, in which both men are attempting to cast the other as "out of touch" with mainstream Californians.

For his part, Fong is trying to paint Boxer as a Teddy Kennedyesque big tax-and-spender, a partisan practitioner of the "politics of yesterday."

Boxer warns voters that Fong is "a radical" who wants to dismantle environmental protections, bring back the "Star Wars" anti-missile program and limit abortion rights.

In his younger years, Fong served on all his mother's campaigns, since her first run for the California Assembly, when the 12-year-old Fong canvassed with her door to door in their home town of Oakland. As a teenager, he attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, and remembers sitting beside actress Shirley MacLaine and football star turned minister Rosie Grier.

His mother was elected five times, over 24 years, as California's secretary of state, and for a time it appeared that her son would follow the Democratic path. "They wanted to set me up," Fong said of the state Democratic power brokers. "They asked me what I wanted."

But after attending the U.S. Air Force Academy and then working as a small businessman, Fong said he began to drift away from the Democratic Party, concerned that, among other things, it was abandoning a strong defense policy. He debated the party switch for a long time with his mother, but finally made the break. Now, Fong said, his mother is serving as a volunteer for his campaign.

Special correspondent Cassandra Stern contributed to this report.