CALIFORNIA WATCH : Object Lesson

In many ways Texas and California are similar--big, diverse Western states known for passionate partisan politics. But one thing Texas politicians do that their California counterparts haven’t quite mastered is putting those passions aside when it comes to the good of their state.

Take this week’s vote in Congress to keep $517 billion in the federal budget for a superconducting supercollider--the massive atom smasher under construction near Dallas. Opponents of the project came very close to knocking it out of next year’s budget as an unnecessary luxury in tight budgetary times. But the supercollider was saved through a monster effort by Texas’ Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and Republican Sen. Phil Gramm. And, let it not be forgotten, one reason the atom smasher is even being built in Texas, instead of California, is because the Lone Star state’s congressional delegation pulled together to bring the bacon home.

To their credit, some senior Californians in Congress, aided by the newly established California Institute, are taking a page from the Texans’ book. They are planning a special briefing for all newly elected, or reelected, California members of Congress at UC San Diego Nov. 5 and 6. And starting in 1993, when California will have a 52-person congressional delegation, they will sponsor regular monthly meetings of the whole delegation--for the first time. Imagine. If there are any political cynics out there who think such efforts are mere symbolism, let the vote on the supercollider be an object lesson of the good they can do.