Dornan Will Not Seek Cranston’s Senate Seat : Politics: Conservative congressman endorses Herschensohn. He also delivers broadsides at Rep. Campbell, a moderate GOP candidate.

U.S. Rep. Robert K. Dornan ended months of political flirtation Monday, bowing out of the 1992 Republican contest for the seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Alan Cranston in favor of an ideological ally, television commentator Bruce Herschensohn.

“This is not my year. This is Bruce Herschensohn’s year,” Dornan told reporters gathered at the Los Angeles Press Club. Herschensohn, beaming, stood by his side.

Dornan of Garden Grove had never announced his intention to run, but rumors of his interest had circulated for months, fanned by coy comments from the congressman. All along, many Republicans across the state doubted that Dornan would risk his seniority in Congress for a potentially unsuccessful statewide bid.

On Monday, the congressman suggested as much, saying that his “dream triumvirate” of assignments on congressional intelligence, armed services and narcotics committees was difficult to abandon.

“What it comes down to is having something very substantial and putting it on the line and going after something else,” he said.

The staunchly conservative Dornan, known for his grandiloquent style, salted his endorsement with myriad criticisms of U. S. Rep. Tom Campbell of Stanford, a moderate running against Herschensohn for the GOP Senate nomination.

Previewing the campaign, Dornan derided Campbell’s two-term tenure in Congress, questioned his loyalty to President Bush and accused Campbell of basing his positions on polls. He took aim at Campbell’s vote for the Democrat’s civil rights bill approved by the House last week over Bush’s claim that it was a “quota” bill.

Campbell was the only congressional Republican from California to support the Democratic bill. He earlier had voted to support the President’s civil rights bill, which failed in the House.

Dornan scoffed that Campbell’s campaign theme of “new conservatism”--a mix of conservative economic practices with support for the environment and abortion rights--was a “disguised form of liberalism.”

“What Tom Campbell is saying now about his vision of new conservatism is the tired old approach of people trying to remake the Republican Party into something that in its soul it is not--and that’s eschewing conservatism,” Dornan said.

Campbell’s campaign manager, Ron Smith, said the Northern California representative shares the views of most Republicans. In the case of the civil rights bill, Smith said, Campbell voted for the Democratic bill only after campaigning for the President’s alternative.

“You’re not going to get someone who is a clone or lock-step with anyone--he is going to vote his conscience,” Smith said.

The final field for the Republican nomination is far from certain. Rep. David Dreier of La Verne, among others, is considering the race. The Republican winner will face a Democrat drawn from a field that includes Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy, Rep. Barbara Boxer of Marin County, former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and possibly Rep. Mel Levine of Santa Monica. At least three other candidates are seeking the other seat held by appointed Sen. John Seymour.

Dornan’s withdrawal is likely to help Herschensohn by allowing conservatives--at least until there are other entries--to coalesce behind one candidate. Dornan’s exit also may make it easier for donors to give to Herschensohn without worrying about an entry by the congressman.

In making his endorsement early and publicly, Dornan was keeping in mind the campaign of 1986, the most recent senatorial campaign in which conservatives split their votes among several candidates, allowing moderate Ed Zschau to win the nomination. Herschensohn placed second in that primary.