Alicia RobinsonAmong the beltway insiders scrambling to...

Alicia Robinson

Among the beltway insiders scrambling to respond to the

recommendations of the 9/11 Commission is Rep. Chris Cox, who last

week announced a series of hearings into information analysis and

sharing, border protection, emergency response and other issues. Cox

chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.

The hearings will probe the intelligence failures that made the

terrorist attacks possible. They are unprecedented in August, when

Congress is normally not in session, Homeland Security Committee

spokeswoman Liz Tobias said.

Cox was traveling and could not be reached for comment Wednesday,

but he released a statement Monday praising President Bush’s response

to the 9/11 Commission report. This week, Bush announced his support

for the commission’s recommendation to create a new position of

national intelligence director. The director would head the nation’s

existing intelligence agencies and a new national terrorism center.

While Cox has lined up with the president on the issue, some

conservatives have criticized the creation of an “intelligence czar”

as useless bureaucracy that hasn’t worked in other situations.

“Who’s going to step forward and suggest that the drug czar has

made drug use any less?” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said. “The drug czar

has been totally ineffective.”

An intelligence czar would duplicate what the White House National

Security Council already does, he said. Rohrabacher did support some

of the commission’s suggestions, such as not giving illegal

immigrants driver’s licenses, but he called others “just feel-good

proposals” that would have a detrimental effect on national security.

Winding down, winding

up for party conventions

Some Democrats’ hearts are still aflutter from the party’s

national convention, which wrapped up last weekend after John Kerry

officially accepted the presidential nomination Thursday night.

Democratic congressional candidate Jim Brandt, who is challenging

Republican Dana Rohrabacher in November, said Wednesday the trek to

Boston was worth it.

“The thing that struck me was this is the first one I went to that

everyone was so focused, everybody was so together,” he said.

“Unfortunately, I think a lot of it is anti-Bush sentiment.”

But it wasn’t all hugs and camaraderie. Brandt said he didn’t see

any of Orange County’s other Democratic candidates, possibly because

it was so hard to get credentials from the convention organizers to

attend.

‘I’m assuming [the other candidates] weren’t invited if they

weren’t even there,” he said.

Local attendance could be light at the Republican National

Convention in late August, too. Assemblyman John Campbell, who’s

running for the 35th District Senate seat this fall, said he’s

unlikely to attend the convention because the legislature is in

session until midnight on Aug. 31, so he’ll be in Sacramento at least

that long.

Rohrabacher said his family, which includes triplets born in

April, is a bigger priority than seeing the incumbent president get

the party’s nomination.

“I’ve got little babies here,” he said. “We know what the outcome

of the Republican convention is going to be.”

Republicans to sail with Crean

A flotilla of conservatives will hit Newport Harbor this evening

to party with television game show host Pat Sajak and Newport Beach

millionaire John Crean aboard Crean’s yacht.

The soiree will raise money for the National Conservative Campaign

Fund, a political action committee that donates to conservative

candidates.

The Newport cruise is the first time the group has organized a

fundraiser outside of the Washington, D.C., area, said Jeff

Hollingsworth, a volunteer with the National Conservative Campaign

Fund.

Expected guests at the booked event include potential fund

beneficiaries Reps. Chris Cox and Dana Rohrabacher as well as former

Orange County GOP Chairman Tom Fuentes. Tickets for the cruise cost

$1,000, but there’s no word on how much it will cost to buy a vowel.

O.C.-based intern awaits

chance for convention voice

It’s the waiting that’s the worst part.

An intern in Rep. Chris Cox’s Newport Beach office will find out

in about a week whether he gets to speak at the Republican National

Convention, scheduled for Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 in New York City.

Nathan Imperiale, 19, an Orange County native and a student at

George Washington University in Washington, D.C., is one of 10

finalists in an essay contest sponsored by the GOP and MTV.

“This could be a life-changing event if I win this contest,”

Imperiale said. His essay detailing his grandfather’s immigration to

America from Spain during World War II was chosen from about 1,000

entries, and he submitted a video to become a finalist in the

contest.

People can vote for the winner online at either

https://www.gopconvention.com or https://www.chooseorlose.com. The

winner will be announced Aug. 16 and will make a speech at the

convention at the end of the month.

Democrats aim to drum up support at local brewery

Orange County Democrats are holding a “meetup” Tuesday at the Karl

Strauss Brewery Restaurant in Costa Mesa.

The event focuses on organizing supporters for campaigning and

encouraging grass-roots support for the Democratic Party. The meetup

is set for 7 p.m. at Karl Strauss, 901-A South Coast Drive, Costa

Mesa. For information, call Sharon Toji at (949) 929-6512.