Democrats expect lucrative day for Edwards

Alicia Robinson

Orange County Democrats will attend a $1,000-a-plate luncheon today

with Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards while

Republicans protest across the street in the parking lot of Taco

Bell.

The event is expected to draw 350 guests, who will pay $1,000 a

ticket or $2,000 for preferred seating to eat lunch with Edwards and

hear him speak, Bay Club officials said. Those who can afford the

$10,000 price tag will be welcomed at a private reception with

Edwards before the luncheon.

“There will be a lot of security,” Balboa Bay Club spokeswoman

Maggie Feldman said. “We’ve been working with the Secret Service and

also the Newport Beach police just to make all the preparations that

one does when a senator comes on the property.”

Not taking it quietly, Republicans are planning a grass-roots

protest across the street in the parking lot of Taco Bell.

“We just wanted to show that Orange County is Republican, and this

is a county that will carry President Bush,” protest organizer

Anthony Kua said.

Although Orange County is touted as the state’s most Republican

county, Edwards isn’t the first big-name Democrat to stop here.

Orange County Democratic Party Chairman Frank Barbaro, who will emcee

the Edwards fundraiser, said former President Bill Clinton appeared

in Anaheim two weeks ago, and Democratic presidential candidate John

Kerry made a stop in the county last year.

“I think [Edwards’ visit] is emblematic of our feeling that the

Kerry-Edwards ticket will appeal to everyone, so we’re going to the

Republicans’ backyard to send off the next vice president to the

[Democratic national] convention,” Barbaro said.

The appearance of such a big-name Democrat has left some of the

party’s most faithful members breathless in anticipation.

“We’re so excited,” said Carol Kernahan, executive director of the

Orange County Kerry campaign. “I can’t believe it. We’ve been asking

for the national campaign to come to Orange County ever since John

Kerry announced [his choice for vice president].... John Edwards is

such a dynamic speaker.”

Kernahan quit her job at UC Irvine to be a full-time volunteer for

the Kerry campaign.

Local Republicans are somewhat less enraptured with Edwards and

his visit. Kua said he told Newport Beach police he was counting on

at least 20 people to join him, but “it looks like it’s going to be

considerably more than that.”

Republicans will be protesting Edwards’ bid for the

vice-presidency and demonstrating their conviction that Orange County

voters will solidly support President Bush in November, Kua said. He

considers the event something of an affront.

“You don’t have a Democratic event in the heart of a Republican

county because you think you’re going to get a lot of support. You do

it to get publicity,” he said. “You do it to stir the pot.”

On the contrary, Barbaro is expecting big support. The county’s

Kerry supporters have raised more than $1 million so far and will top

$2 million with today’s event, he said.

News of the Republicans’ protest left Barbaro puzzled as to what

Edwards has done that they’re decrying.

“Maybe they’re assuming he’s going to be the next vice president

and they want to get their attitudes in early,” he said. “Unless they

think Newport Beach should be somewhere Democrats can’t venture, I

see no reason for their presence.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.