Where have all the candidates gone?

S.J. CAHN

A quick history lesson this week.

In late October 1992, the Pacific Amphitheatre was rocking and

rolling, but not for any band. Bill Clinton, then just a governor and

the “Comeback Kid,” ventured into Republican territory as he sought

to unseat the first President Bush.

Fast forward to August 1996. Clinton’s challenger four years

later, Sen. Bob Dole, made a similar appearance in his failed attempt

to unseat Clinton.

Then try June 2000. In a relatively clandestine visit, Hillary

Clinton whisked her way onto Lido Isle for a $50,000 fundraiser

before 45 people. The Pilot described the scene:

“A handful of residents paraded around the street, hoping to catch

a glimpse of Clinton and shake her hand. But with Newport Beach

police and Secret Service agents standing guard on either end of Via

Venezia, curious residents didn’t stand a chance.

Officials closed off the street to anyone who didn’t live on it,

declaring it a ‘protective zone.’

Still, some people stood on the street corner for two hours, just

to catch a glimpse of her.

‘Just one click. That’s all I want,’ said Joann Clark, who raced

around with her friend, Connie Modnick.”

With it was a picture of a waving Clinton, shot from the balcony

of a nearby home.

Three months later, candidate George W. Bush swept through town,

too. After a day of campaigning in Orange County, he dined at an

unidentified Harbor Island home.

“Among those expected to turn out are Fuentes, representatives

from the Republican national party, Newport Beach City Council

candidate Steve Bromberg, and representatives for Rep. Christopher

Cox (R-Newport Beach), Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer and state Sen.

Ross Johnson,” the Pilot reported.

Usually, Newport-Mesa is the place to be during presidential

campaigns.

(Heck, in May 2003, special prosecutor Kenneth Starr of

Whitewater/Clinton impeachment fame came though the area and spoke at

a luncheon hosted by the California Republican Lawyers Assn.)

This year, we’ve seen next to nothing. Depending on your leanings,

you might even say we’ve seen less than nothing.

The Democratic vice presidential candidate, Sen. John Edwards, did

appear at the Balboa Bay Club for a $1,000-a-plate lunch. But he

breezed through with only a minutes-long speech. And the wife of

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, Teresa Heinz Kerry,

made a stop in Irvine.

But the GOP was more N-O-T in the community this year.

And that, I think, we can attribute to the changed political

landscape. Neither side has made California a big priority because

Kerry is supposed to carry it, handily. Instead, battleground states,

where polls show the vote nearly even, are getting all the face time.

Orange County, Fla., had a better chance of a Kerry or Bush sighting,

in other words.

Interestingly, the lack of candidate appearances seems to have

affected campaign contributions. In past elections, the Newport Beach

ZIP Code 92660 was among the top sources of donations.

This cycle, as of the beginning of October, is not even in the top

50, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics

(www.opensecrets.org).

Coincidence?

NO MESS AT ALL

Tuesday night at the Balboa Bay Club provided the ultimate moment

of when politics should be put aside.

That night, the city hosted a “Mess Night,” what’s become a

traditional, and formal, dinner to honor present and past Marines.

Newport Beach last year adopted Camp Pendleton’s 1st Battalion,

1st Marines, in large part thanks to the efforts of Bromberg. Marines

of 1/1 -- an infantry battalion -- are preparing to leave for

overseas service, for a second time, in December.

The dinner was a sell out, Bromberg, a former Marine, told me

Wednesday, and raised nearly $20,000, including a $5,000 chunk from

Newport Beach City Councilman John Heffernan.

“I was just overwhelmed,” Bromberg said. “I couldn’t be prouder of

the people of this city and how they responded.”

He added that he suspects, with more time to plan and raise money,

the city will be able to hit a six-figure number to help out the 1/1

families.

As I sat there, drinking the rum punch and the port and smoking

cigars -- all part of the tradition, of course, or I’d never been

doing so on a work night -- I read through information on 1/1.

A lot of it looked familiar. They were at Okinawa and Guadalcanal

in World War II. During the Korean War, they fought at the Chosin

Reservoir. They fought in Vietnam.

When I went home, I showed the program to my wife.

It turns out her father had been a member of 1/1 -- a battalion sergeant major, for those for whom that means something -- and a

Marine for 30 years. All those battles I was reading about were

familiar, as was the description “Frozen Chosin” for those who

suffered through that long battle.

It was there my wife’s father was nearly killed. Hit in the face

by shrapnel, he probably would have died had the Corps not had the

creed of never leaving a Marine behind. One of his Purple Hearts sits

in our home. My wife’s middle name, Jo, is in honor of the Marine who

saved her father.

Sgt. Major Billy Allen died at the beginning of the summer.

Tuesday night was a fine opportunity to pay him tribute.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He may be reached at (714)

966-4607 or by e-mail at s.j.cahn@latimes.com.