Partisan pals

Scott Baugh worries about his party’s “brand.”

Frank Barbaro’s starting to get the feeling things are nearing those heady days post-Watergate for Orange County Democrats.

But both of the county party chairmen know the reality is that Republicans still rule Orange County.

About 496,000 Democrats vs. 706,000 Republicans.

But the Democrats are catching up and making things a bit more competitive this election cycle. In the last 15 months, 32,000 new Democrats have registered while the GOP has lost 12,000 voters, according to Barbaro.

So you’d think Barbaro the Democrat and Baugh the Republican would be bitter rivals.

Would you believe they’re friends?

It’s an odd relationship given that both men are also playing the part of presidential kingmakers this year. But they’ll have dinner together on election night just like they did four years ago as they watched the returns roll in on the President Bush vs. John Kerry race.

“Frank is just a gentleman,” Baugh said. “We can sit down and have an open dialogue about the strengths and weaknesses of our parties. It’s always a candid conversation.”

“There’s so much in the country that’s not a partisan matter at all,” Barbaro said, referring to how the two sometimes actually work together on common causes.

In fact, when Baugh was working to bring the annual Orange County marathon to Costa Mesa he called Barbaro for help. Baugh wanted all of the City Council candidates to back it before he went forward with the deal, meaning he would have to lobby Councilwoman Katrina Foley, a Democrat. Just in case Foley was a bit suspicious why the Orange County Republican chairman was calling her, he asked Barbaro to call on his behalf. It worked. Foley backed the marathon.

But they do most of their work at cross purposes politically. And this year the stakes were very high — the country’s top job.

California’s votes don’t matter much since it’s a reliably blue state. That’s why you almost never see candidates canvassing for votes here.

But they need California for fundraising. And if you want to raise money in Orange County you have to go through Baugh or Barbaro to organize it.

Newport Beach, jokingly referred to by politicos as the presidential ATM, is one of the more popular destinations.

Usually the Democrats pass the hat around in Beverly Hills while the Republicans ask for the credit card numbers in Newport.

This year was different, though.

Barack Obama picked up about $170,000 in a fundraiser in May, 2007, Barbaro said. When he came back in July, he got $1.2 million. The last time a Democrat managed to pocket that much coin in Newport it was President Clinton working on his re-election, Baugh said.

Still, it was nothing compared to what McCain and Palin have reaped here. Together the two raked in about $9 million, Baugh said.

But before McCain got the nomination, the Republican primary was “so exciting because it was so competitive,” Baugh said. Baugh backed Mitt Romney, Assemblyman Van Tran supported John McCain, Assemblyman Chuck Devore liked Fred Thompson and there were other prominent GOPers, like Newport Beach Councilman Steve Rosansky, in Rudy Giuliani’s camp.

Same for the Democrats. Barbaro, for example, backed Hillary Clinton while the party’s executive director, Melahat Rafiei, supported John Edwards. Debbie Cook, the Democratic congressional candidate, said her family was split over Clinton and Obama.

But Obama was clearly the rainmaker for Democrats this year. He collected twice as much money from Orange County Democrats than Kerry, Barbaro said.

“For Obama they’ll come out and throw money at him,” he said. “We have tons of volunteers who want to work for Obama.”

The difference in volunteers is about 10 to 1 compared with four years ago, Barbaro said.

“We’ve had about 25 years of nothing happening and understandably so,” Barbaro said, nodding to the rise of the conservative movement with President Reagan.

But this year, he thinks, the Democrats have their own version of a Reaganesque candidate. Baugh acknowledges it, but points out how McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, has electrified the base. Still, he worries, a series of scandals and an ailing economy has battered the Republican brand.

On election night, both men will again watch the returns together and find out the verdict of voters. And they’ll do so gladly.

“He’s a very good friend,” Barbaro said of Baugh. “He’s really bright. He doesn’t engage in spin, which brings out the best in me. I can be frank, honest and straightforward.”