Rohrabacher Backer : Ollie North Arrives to Play Campaign Role

Former Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, a hero to conservative causes despite his indictment on conspiracy charges in the Iran-Contra scandal, flew into Long Beach on Wednesday for a day of campaigning for Dana Rohrabacher, a candidate in the 42nd Congressional District Republican primary.

“First of all, he’s a true friend,” the former Marine officer said of Rohrabacher. “Second of all, he’s a true friend of freedom.”

Rohrabacher is one of eight Republican candidates in the heavily GOP district vying for the seat being vacated by Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach), Gov. George Deukmejian’s disputed choice for state treasurer. Rohrabacher is counting on North’s one-day appearance for a last-minute push he needs to outdistance front-runner Harriett M. Wieder, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

In her own campaign coup, Wieder was endorsed Wednesday by Lungren.

North, in the first of back-to-back campaign days for Rohrabacher and C. Christopher Cox, a Republican candidate in Orange County’s 40th Congressional District, drew an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 people to a late-morning rally at Long Beach Airport. It was held in a hangar hung with a 30-foot-by-60-foot American flag and decorated with red, white and blue balloons.

To a chant of “Ollie, Ollie, Ollie” and rousing patriotic music, North climbed onto a flatbed truck, hugged Rohrabacher and gave a 10-minute talk mostly about Rohrabacher’s qualifications for office. But North also took a few swipes at Congress, the body that grilled him about his role in selling arms to Iran in exchange for hostages, apparently without the knowledge of President Reagan, and then using the money to fund the Nicaraguan Contra effort.

Standing erect and dressed in a dark gray pinstripe suit, North said Rohrabacher was needed in Congress to “stand up to the likes of” House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas and Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, both Democrats.

“I think it should be clear to all of us that if there is any hope of stopping this government . . . from plundering our paychecks (and) spending us to ruin, that battle cannot be won by the White House alone,” said North, sounding a little like a candidate himself. “It must be won in the halls of Congress with new conservatives like Dana Rohrabacher. . . .”

North attributed the Soviet Union’s withdrawal from Afghanistan to U.S. support of “freedom fighters” there. He added, referring to Nicaraguan Contras, “I have to ask: Isn’t there something drastically wrong when this Congress will send Stinger missiles to Afghanistan thousands of miles away and today turns its back on men and women shedding their blood against a communist conspiracy a few hundred miles from our border?”

North also used “evil empire”--a term Reagan disavowed Tuesday at the Moscow summit--to refer to the Soviet Union. If Rohrabacher and others North called “new conservatives” controlled Congress, North said, “the Red Army would be digging in against the popular uprisings across the whole breadth of their evil empire.”

Rohrabacher, 40, of Palos Verdes Estates, was a speech writer for Reagan for 6 1/2 years and knew North in Washington. He has attempted to portray himself as the candidate closest to Reagan, a role that has been challenged by another GOP candidate in the 42nd District, former White House advance man Andrew Littlefair. Not surprisingly, Littlefair attempted to belittle North’s endorsement of Rohrabacher.

“I appreciate the fact that Ollie North is considered a hero by many Americans,” Littlefair said Wednesday. But, he added, “I would have never taken any action to counter the will of the President or harm his Administration.” He accused Rohrabacher of paying for North’s endorsement for “free media exposure.”

North’s appearances on his behalf enabled Rohrabacher to raise $135,000 at four campaign fund-raisers Wednesday, only one of which was open to the public, according to Allan Hoffenblum, Rohrabacher’s political consultant.

Rohrabacher denied that he had paid North, who recently signed up with Washington Speakers Bureau Inc. for paid appearances ranging from commencement addresses to one before the Southeastern Egg and Poultry Assn.

North, speaking at a campaign fund-raising dinner at the Spruce Goose in Long Beach, said: “I didn’t take a penny to be here. I came here because he is a friend and I believe in what he represents.”

Rohrabacher said he did not offer to raise money for North’s defense, although he had assured North that “if I am elected, he can expect to have a strong voice in his defense.”