Edited by Douglas Harbrecht

NOW, AL CHECCHI WANTS TO BE CALIFORNIA'S PILOT

Former Northwest Airlines Co-Chairman Al Checchi, who helped bring the ailing carrier back from the brink of bankruptcy, is jumping into another high-stakes rescue mission: making government work.

The one-time lieutenant for the Bass brothers announced on Sept. 23 that he's running for the Democratic nomination to be California governor. In a speech at the Comstock Club in Sacramento, Checchi said he will bring "real-world experience and new ideas that will break with the status quo, challenge special interests, and truly prepare California for the 21st century.

Checchi has been traveling the nation's most populated state since early this year, meeting with various groups, as he gauged his potential for winning what's likely to be a fierce race. Among those expected to also enter the ring are Senator Dianne Feinstein and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta. The primary will be held next spring, followed by the state general election in November, 1998.

Checchi, a Harvard MBA who also claims to have turned around such companies as Marriott Corp. and Walt Disney Co., outlined a far-reaching agenda. Among other things, he pledged to cut state bureaucracy by 10% and put the savings into expanded educational programs.

To help businesses, he said he'll create regional Silicon Valleys -- partnerships between private and public sectors and educational interests that will work toward retraining employees and bringing businesses back to the state. The self-styled moderate Democrat pledged that he would have "zero tolerance" for domestic violence and would enforce the death penalty for serial rapists and repeat child molesters.

"The new century can be the California century -- if we have the courage to appeal beyond self-interest and special interest to the energy, the strength, the daring, and the decency of the people of California," he said. His early candidacy has already prompted several top California leaders, including California Assembly Majority Leader Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), to support him.

By Ronald Grover in Los Angeles