Cocktail Party for Soviet Delegation : Russians Bring Democrats, GOP Together

A summit meeting it is not.

Still, tonight’s private gathering at UC Irvine offers a few similarities. The participants are to include 14 Russians and the leaders of two warring political parties.

The occasion is an unusual cocktail reception by the Democratic Foundation of Orange County for a Soviet delegation to the United States. The foundation’s members, each of whom has paid $1,000 a year to join, include the activists and major donors of the local Democratic Party.

A cocktail party with the Soviet leaders would have been a first on its own, foundation Executive Director John Whitehurst said. But given the international flavor, foundation President Michael Ray and other board members decided to invite members of the Republican Party’s prestigious club for major donors, the Lincoln Club of Orange County, to come, too.

The encounter should be a friendly one for all sides, Whitehurst said. About 15 Lincoln Club members had accepted the invitation Tuesday. Several dozen foundation members were expected to attend. And the exchange between Lincoln Club and foundation members should be at least as interesting as meeting with the Russians, he said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a Lincoln Club member before,” Whitehurst said.

Whitehurst said the Russians, a mix of party secretaries and institute and youth directors, were on their way to visit Disneyland and one of their leaders had told a mutual friend that they were interested in meeting “the leadership of both parties” in Orange County.

Lincoln Club President Coalson Morris said that he, too, was looking forward to meeting the opposition party as well as the Russians. “It’s the first time we’ve ever met,” Morris said of the Lincoln Club-Foundation meeting. With the Soviets present, “this is kind of neutral ground.”

“These people have a lot of things in common with us,” Morris added, referring not to the Russians but to the Democrats.

Morris said he hoped the encounter might lead to cooperative efforts with Democratic leaders on issues like transportation. At the least, he said, maybe it would lead to a few more Republican-Democrat meetings.

But Morris said he would hold off discussing one subject at the reception. “I wouldn’t want to mix up the meeting tomorrow night in politics,” he said.