Hahn's early front-runner status, built on name recognition, was aided by fallout from the seemingly endless presidential contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Then came the presidential inauguration, the flap over former President Bill Clinton's last-minute pardons and California's energy crisis. With voters finally focusing on the mayoral campaign, things have changed. However, there remains an absence of defining issues in the race. In today's inchworm politics, candidates are careful not to alienate any potential voter.
Ads trumpet their support for voter favorites like education reform or opposition to gridlock.
In late-campaign debates, candidates have turned to pointed and direct questions to squeeze opponents on controversial matters. Although the energy crisis has not yet reverberated in a city whose municipally owned utility just keeps humming along, former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa has come under attack for his Assembly vote in favor of the now-discredited 1996 deregulation bill. Candidates have utilized issues to woo voters away from opponents competing for the same base. Parks' approval rating is shaky among Latino voters, too. Villaraigosa and Rep. Xavier Becerra have both come down hard on Parks.