Grudge match
Alicia Robinson
Political observers expect to see a bundle of money poured into the
unexpected March Republican primary race between Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher and conservative talk show host Bob Dornan.
Dornan, a former congressman with a colorful history, surprised
fellow Republicans last week when he filed to run against
Rohrabacher, with whom he has had a very public up-and-down
friendship.
“I’m just disappointed that Bob decided to do this,” Rohrabacher
said of Dornan’s decision to file for the 46th Congressional
District. “This is all based on ego and an old grudge, and I’m sorry
that he doesn’t remember any of the positive fights that we had while
we were on the same team.”
That team fell apart after Dornan’s high-profile loss of his
Garden Grove-based Congressional seat to Rep. Loretta Sanchez in
1996. Dornan has loudly blamed that loss in part on a lack of support
by his fellow California representatives including Chris Cox, Ron
Packard, Ed Royce and Rohrabacher. He also lost a rematch in 1998.
“From my heart, 9/11 made me desperately want to go back into the
political arena,” Dornan said. “My main reason is to try and get back
into congress with my expertise in intelligence and in military
affairs.”
Dornan, who earned numerous nicknames during his fire brand years
in Congress -- “B-1 Bob” one of the most polite -- also maintained
that he would never have been in the fight had he not given
Rohrabacher the safe Republican Huntington Beach district in 1992,
rather than take it himself after the last round of redistricting.
Rohrabacher, 56, a former journalist and a speechwriter for Ronald
Reagan, has served in Congress since 1988.
Although Dornan helped him get his start in politics with an
endorsement, Rohrabacher says he is on guard for the campaign.
“Bob is known as a very abusive and mean-spirited campaigner, so
no one ever takes him lightly,” he said. “I have to make sure I have
the money necessary to thwart and to explain what is expected to be a
race laced with highly personal attacks.”
Dornan has come out swinging. The statement that he is a
mudslinging campaigner “is a lie perpetrated by Democrats,” he said.
“I never put out a negative brochure in any of my campaigns until
I got hit first,” Dornan said. “I always try to run a campaign on the
issues.”
He has a long history of government service. He served in the U.S.
Air Force from 1953 to 1959 and was a congressman from 1977 to 1983
and from 1985 to 1997.
Dornan, 70, toyed with the idea of running against Rohrabacher in
the fall of 1999.
Local Republicans weren’t expecting the move and will have to
choose sides in the coming weeks.
“I have not seen Bob for several years, and I don’t know anyone
who has talked to him for several years, so such an announcement is a
real surprise,” Orange County Republican Party Chairman Tom Fuentes
said.
Dornan and Rohrabacher had similar voting records in Congress, so
it’s unlikely that one particular issue will be a factor in the race,
Fuentes said.
He expected Rohrabacher’s fellow legislators to support him.
“He works very closely with the other House members from Orange
County, and the likelihood of their rallying behind him is high,”
Fuentes said.
Rohrabacher also said he and Dornan have similar political agendas
but that his opponent’s negativity will likely be a turnoff to
voters.
“Bob and I come from two different conservative roots,”
Rohrabacher said. “Bob is an old-line right-winger who is always
against things. ... A positive conservative approach is something
that is much more in tune with the voters of this district than what
Bob’s track record represents.”
But Dornan said his legislative record is not the same as
Rohrabacher’s, and he expects issues to be the most important factor
in the campaign.
“I don’t think I’m running against a Republican,” he said. “I
think I’m running against a Libertarian who changed his registration
so he could get elected.”
Political watchers see another factor as key to the race: cash.
“Money is the key, always,” UC Irvine political science professor
Mark Petracca said. “Dornan’s going to need a big bag of cash to
carpet bomb the district [with campaign literature].”
Historically, Dornan has been a strong fundraiser with many small
contributors, Petracca said. And if Dornan is raising and spending a
lot of money, Rohrabacher may have to follow suit, something he
wasn’t expecting to do in the March election.
Dornan’s campaign coffers aren’t exactly brimming yet -- his
latest report filed with the Federal Elections Commission listed less
than $37,000 cash on hand as of Sept. 30, compared with the $156, 600
Rohrabacher had as of that date. But in the past, Dornan has been a
formidable fundraiser, netting contributions of $3.7 million in
1997-98 elections while Rohrabacher raised just $316,700.
Some Republicans are worried that because Rohrabacher has an
opponent in the primary, his campaign will require dollars he usually
gives to the support of other Republicans.
‘We’re always concerned when Republican dollars are spent in a
primary election,” Fuentes said.
Rohrabacher has always been a generous giver to other candidates,
said Carl Forti, National Republican Congressional Committee
spokesman.
“From the NRCC standpoint, we’re 110% behind Mr. Rohrabacher, and
we’ll give him any assistance he needs,” Forti said.
While money is important, it won’t be the sole factor in winning
the race. Image will also count, and onlookers expect personal
attacks to be part of the campaigning.
Dornan’s record -- which includes a tussle with a fellow
congressman and his alleging that illegal votes helped Sanchez beat
him in 1996 -- gives Rohrabacher ammunition to undermine Dornan’s
credibility, Petracca said.
But Rohrabacher will need to watch his back.
“If [Dornan is] at all serious about doing this, he’ll fight tooth
and nail, and it’ll be a very, very vicious campaign,” Petracca said.
While both candidates are likely to be asking for money as March 2
draws closer, Rohrabacher can count on some support from an
unexpected quarter.
“Anything I can do to make sure that Bob Dornan does not represent
me is what I feel I must do,” said William Orton, a Costa Mesa
Democrat and former candidate for the 67th Assembly District seat.
While he’ll support a Democrat in the general election, Orton said
he dislikes Dornan enough that he’d help Rohrabacher with fundraising
for the primary.
“I’m going to send Dana Rohrabacher a check,” Orton said.
* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.
She can be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at
alicia.robinson@latimes.com.
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