Galanter, Aides Confer Amid Signs She’ll Stay in Race : Russell Unsure of Strategy in Light of Attack

Speaking to supporters for the first time since the near-fatal knife attack on her in her home, Ruth Galanter was still talking Thursday like a political candidate, her aides said.

Though described as weak and groggy, Galanter was able say “great” when told that her staff plans to open a new campaign office on Saturday, said Marcela Howell, Galanter’s campaign manager. The new office will be opened in the Crenshaw area, a stronghold of support for Galanter’s opponent, City Council President Pat Russell.

And, according to Howell, Galanter had more words of encouragement for her staff,

“Tell ‘em I’m fine,” Howell quoted her as saying from her bed at UCLA Medical Center.

Intends to Stay in Race

The remarks represented the first reported signs that Galanter intends to stay in the race to oust Russell from her 6th District seat in a runoff election on June 2.

The hospital visit was the first by members of Galanter’s staff since the assault in the early morning hours of the previous day. Howell, upon leaving the bedside, said Galanter’s voice was “husky, deep, but audible” in the aftermath of stab wounds in her neck and throat that required five hours of surgery Wednesday afternoon. Galanter’s condition by early Thursday had improved from critical to serious.

Galanter supporters talked as if their campaign would be as active as ever. “We will carry on,” Howell said.

Besides opening the new neighborhood campaign office, Jim Bickhart, Galanter’s press secretary, said, several supporters are prepared to stand in for her at campaign functions. Among them is Patrick McCartney, the third-place finisher in the April 14 primary, who has joined the Galanter campaign.

Russell Sounds Equivocal

Meanwhile, Russell sounded equivocal as she responded to questions about what kind of campaign strategy would be appropriate for her to employ in running against someone recovering from such a brutal ordeal.

Russell’s aides would like her to emphasize her efforts, during 17 years in office, to curb crime in her district.

“Crime prevention is now the number one issue in this campaign,” Kam Kuwata, Russell’s press secretary, said Thursday. “We want to point out the things that Pat Russell has done to lower crime in this district.”

Kuwata said Russell may start talking about the issue at a press conference today, which, if held, would signal the resumption of campaign activities that Russell ordered suspended Wednesday following the attack on Galanter.

‘Bread-and-Butter Issue’

“Crime, I think, is a bread-and-butter issue,” Russell said in a telephone interview Thursday, but added that she was uncertain as to when and how she would resume her campaign.

“I just don’t know. I’m going day to day on this. Truth to tell, I’ve been waiting to see how she is. It’s the most important thing I’m thinking about right now.”

Richard Lichtenstein, a Russell campaign consultant, said Russell did visit Galanter on Thursday. He said it was not a publicity stunt. “Pat just went for Pat,” he said.

But the idea of such a visit was not received well by Galanter supporters.

“They are attempting to convert this into a cheap political statement for no goddamn reason,” said Marshall Grossman, a lawyer whose wife heads Galanter’s finance committee.

Not a New Issue

Sensitive to accusations that Russell would try to exploit the tragedy, Russell press aide Kuwata said a campaign message about crime is not part of a new strategy inspired by the attack on Galanter. Russell has talked in the past about her program to enlist landlords and tenants in combatting drug distribution in residential neighborhoods in the district.

Yet, there are indications that Russell is reassessing her campaign and is pulling some punches that now would be considered inappropriate to throw at a challenger who was close to death and who is still in serious condition.

Before the intruder’s attack on Galanter, many analysts of the race argued that Russell’s best defense would be to try to consolidate support among white conservatives, considered key voters in the district, by focusing on Galanter’s record of association with Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and on her left-wing base of support in Venice.

Russell had hoped to divert attention from her own reputation for encouraging major development in the district.

Galanter and four other challengers had used the issue of development to put Russell on the defensive during the primary election campaign and prevented her from gaining the 50%-plus votes she needed to avoid a runoff. Russell received only 42% of the votes, and Galanter, an urban planning consultant who had never before run for political office, came in second with 29%, setting up the runoff race.

Record of Activism

A former chairwoman of the regional Coastal Commission, Galanter has a long record of activism on behalf of environmental causes. That record, along with the leftist image of several of her closest supporters, was seen by her opponents as their primary target.

But that was before Wednesday morning.

In light of what happened then, it is hard to imagine any effort to make Galanter the villain of the race.

Moreover, a source close to Russell’s campaign said, “there were some things on the drawing board that you can be sure they are just not going ahead with now.”

“I don’t see how Russell can go after her now,” said Joe Cerrell, a veteran political consultant who has no involvement in the 6th District race but has been following it with interest.

Cerrell said that before she was attacked, Galanter’s image as a “radical” had caused a lot of people to express interest in supporting Russell.

Want to Donate

“I’m not just talking about developers but people who don’t normally get that interested in politics. They were asking me how much could they give to Russell, and how often.”

However, Cerrell said it would be difficult now for Russell to exploit that concern.

“Anything critical Russell says negative is going to arouse sympathy for Galanter. She (Russell) will have to run simply on her merits.”

But others in Cerrell’s business said they thought Russell would have to push ahead with her original strategy or surely lose.

“If I were Pat Russell, I wouldn’t let this get in the way,” said another veteran consultant who asked not to be named.

Aim at Conservatives

“If she doesn’t turn out the conservative Republicans, she doesn’t have a chance to beat Galanter.”

Asked if she would conduct any kind of counteroffensive against Galanter, Russell simply turned the question around to the reporter asking it.

“What would you do?”

In a separate conversation, Kuwata took a more determined view.

“We must continue talking about the issues that matter in the campaign,” he said.

Regarding crime, he said it would be fair to examine the record of Galanter’s policy advisers on the issue.

Concerned About Record

“We need to look at what is the background of her supporters. I’m concerned about what is the record of the Venice Town Council and the Venice Beach Head. What have they done or said to combat crime and drug abuse?”

Galanter is a former member of the Town Council, known mainly for its tough stands against commercial development. Two of her policy advisers are mainstays of the Beach Head, a paper that frequently has supported far-left causes and candidates and that regularly lashes out against President Reagan and U.S. foreign policy.