Claudia Peschiutta
GLENDALE -- Pa Harry didn't much like Democrats.
His favorite way of referring to them was, "Those damn Democrats."
Unfortunately for Pa Harry, his grandson, Adam Schiff, joined the
enemy.
Schiff, 40, became the area's Democratic state senator four years ago
and hopes to go on to Congress in November.
If his parents, Sherry and Ed Schiff, had anything to do with his
choice, Schiff could have gone either way.
Sherry comes from a long line of Republicans and is a registered
member of the party, while Ed comes from a family of Democrats.
Environment may have helped tip the scale.
"I remember, like every kid growing up in Boston, being awed by John
Kennedy," Schiff said.
Despite Schiff's admiration for the Democratic president and other
political figures, such as Winston Churchill, those who knew him as a boy
probably would never have guessed he would one day run for Congress.
'IT'S IN THE FAMILY BONES'
"As a kid, he was a little bit quiet," Sherry said. "I remember
saying, 'Adam, you don't tell me that many things. I don't even know if
you're dating.' "
That quiet kid never expected to be voted most likely to succeed by
classmates at the Bay Area high school he attended.
"I was totally shocked," Schiff said. "I didn't think anybody in the
school knew who I was."
His first step toward becoming a legislator came when, as an
undergraduate at Stanford University, he decided to study law instead of
medicine.
"My parents were appalled when I chose law school," Schiff said.
Sherry said she had been hoping to have a doctor in a family full of
lawyers.
"The law, I guess it's in the family bones," she said.
Her son went on to Harvard Law School and, in 1987, became a criminal
prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Schiff said he never lost a case and even brought about the first
conviction of an FBI agent on espionage charges, but he eventually
decided to do more than just go after criminals.
"You get the sense that for every one you put away, there are two more
where they came from," he said.
So, he decided to run for office, in the hope of making a bigger
difference.
A HARD LESSON TO LEARN
His first try was anything but encouraging.
In a special election for a district that has since become part of the
43rd state Assembly District, Schiff said he came in 10th out of 14
candidates.
His next attempt came in 1994, in a special election for the 43rd
District, which he lost to James Rogan. He lost to Rogan again in the
general election later that year.
