MONEY STILL TALKS BUT DOESN'T ALWAYS WIN

Election returns from California are most interesting in light of hysterical warnings from self-styled reformers about money in politics. The Golden State is home to 32 million people and, were it a separate nation, the seventh largest economy in the world. This means that in order to reach voters, retail campaigning takes a back seat to media campaigns through television, radio and other media, including newspapers and direct mail. And purchasing media means money in large amounts.

June 2 was California's primary election date to select party nominees for the November elections. What happened is that in both major parties, self-propelled, multimillionaire big-spenders lost in the races for both governor and U.S. Senate. Consider:

Republican Darrell Issa, a millionaire businessman, financed his Senate campaign with $10 million in personal funds but lost to State Treasurer Matt Fong. Asian-American Fong, by the way, is the GOP's brightest hope for a pickup of a Democratic Senate seat.

Democrat U.S. Rep. Jane Harman spent $15 million of her fortune in her unsuccessful campaign for governor.

Most tellingly, former United Airlines chief executive Al Checchi finished third behind Harman and gubernatorial nominee Gray Davis after spending $40 million of his estimated $600 million fortune. First-time candidate Checchi had begun spending for TV ads nearly 18 months out from the election. Winner Davis is the lieutenant governor who has spent most of the last quarter century in public office. He spent about $10 million and watched in glee as his numbers rose following attacks on each other by his two wealthier opponents.

Checchi's $40 million exceeds the previous California record established in 1994 by former Rep. Michael Huffington. That year, it cost Huffington only $28 million of his fortune to lose statewide.

These losses, of course, follow on the recent examples, at the national level, of billionaire Ross Perot and publishing magnate Steve Forbes.

Money has always been, as one sage put it, the "mother's milk" of politics. Still, there is a lesson in here someplace about the limits of money in buying election victory. Candidates, such as Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gray Davis, must have enough to compete. But they need not be millionaires. Voters are smarter than many self-styled reformers give us credit for.