[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 72 (Friday, June 10, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         TRIBUTE TO BERT COFFEY

                                 ______


                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 10, 1994

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to announce to the 
House, with great sadness, the passing of one of the giants of recent 
California and Democratic political history, Bert Coffey.
  Every politically active person in California, and many others 
throughout this Nation, knew and respected Bert as one of the most 
significant Democratic strategists of the last half century.
  Last Wednesday was the post-election day in my lifetime that Bert 
Coffey wasn't around to analyze the results. Instead, it was the day 
many of California's political figures gathered to lay Bert Coffey to 
rest.
  Most Californians--most Democrats, for that matter--never heard of 
Bert: one more example how many who shape our lives remain anonymous. 
But for my family and for legions in California politics, Bert was a 
central force for nearly half a century.
  His career in Democratic politics began with his association with my 
father's first race for the State assembly in the late 1940's. They won 
that campaign, and many successive ones. Bert and my father not only 
taught me much about politics, but much about the responsibilities of 
public service.
  Critics, and even friends, liked to characterize Bert as a 
``political boss'' whose ``Coffey Machine'' dominated the electoral 
machinations of Contra Costa County for decades. Bert, a product of the 
rough and tumble world of union organizing in the 1930's laughed off 
the stigma. Born in Brooklyn, Bert knew what real machine politics was 
all about, and he thought the comparison amusing. Besides, he had 
confronted charges of being a Communist in the 1940's and took on the 
fearsome House Un-American Activities Committee. What was a little name 
calling after that?
  Power was never the goal in Bert Coffey's political strategy. It was 
all about results--winning office to get something done for the people. 
In the blow dried, spin doctored, sound bite world of contemporary 
American politics, such motives sound corny. But Bert was a serious 
man.
  Bert's beliefs were heartfelt and unshakable: a commitment to civil 
rights and civil liberties that involved him in genuine interracial 
coalitions two decades before Selma, Montgomery and the March on 
Washington. Perhaps it was his Jewish heritage or his admitted leftist 
inclinations as a younger man, but Bert unflaggingly put himself on the 
side of the powerless, the disenfranchised, and the oppressed. No man 
loathed bigotry more.

  His political axiom was concern for the economic well-being of the 
American worker. ``Jobs, jobs, jobs'' was drilled into my head decades 
before ``It's the economy, stupid'' was coined. He recognized the 
primary importance of assuring financial security before voters would 
be willing to address less tangible issues. He was an old school labor 
man who supported unions not because they had PACs but because they 
fought for working people.
  He had an infallible sense of the politically important, not just the 
politically opportune. Bert will never be remembered as a militant 
feminist or radical environmentalist, yet he genuinely understood the 
critical importance and value of these emerging political trends in the 
1960's, and he welded them to his more traditional platform for social 
change.
  He had a hard bit partisan who penned withering campaign attacks, but 
who could put aside the combatativeness and enjoy a drink with longtime 
rivals. He was an opinionated and assertive man who remained 
inquisitive and thirsty for information, interpretations, and insights 
from those in the midst of the political battle. He rose from refinery 
organizer to chairman of the largest Democratic party in the United 
States, became a valued adviser to mayors, legislators, Congressmen, 
Senators, and Presidents, but remained fiercely devoted to improving 
his hometown of Richmond.
  Bert never ran for elective office. He lived modestly, his home a 
disheveled melange of books, photographs of himself with political 
superstars but more importantly, his three children and grandchildren, 
and a warehouse of political memorabilia. His indifference to financial 
security for himself wore off on those he influenced: no hints of 
scandal, no living high on the hog, no cashing in on fame or prestige. 
A high caloric lunch at Trader Vic's in Emeryville was Bert's idea of 
stepping out.
  Just before my father, a State senator, died in 1969, he asked Bert 
to be sure to look out for me should something happen to him. He knew 
Bert would encourage me to follow in ``Senator Miller's footsteps,'' 
but first, he pleaded, ``make sure the kid finishes law school and gets 
his shingle.''
  I was a 23-year-old law student when Bert encouraged me to seek my 
late father's Senate seat, maybe breaking faith with his old friend. As 
usual, Bert ran a great campaign, but untypically, we lost this one, so 
Bert conscientiously sent me back to law school and a training session 
in the legislature with another of his confidants, George Moscone, 
before helping me win a congressional seat in 1974.
  Throughout my career, as a campaign manager, staffer, and adviser, 
Bert Coffey continued to share with me the unparalleled perspective and 
wisdom gleaned of a lifetime of activism and political involvement. 
There wasn't a major decision I made where he wasn't consulted, and 
there won't be a day that goes by that I won't miss his wise counsel.

                          ____________________