Vasquez Will Speak at GOP Convention

Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez will make a prime-time speech from the podium at the Republican National Convention in New Orleans the night Vice President George Bush is scheduled to be nominated, National Republican Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf said Friday.

Vasquez will be one of three Orange County speakers on nomination night, indicating the important role the county is expected to play in the battle to carry California on Nov. 8. A clear majority of Orange County voters are registered Republican, and they have a record of strong financial support of the party.

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove is scheduled to give the invocation.

Dornan Speech

Also, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) said he will give a seconding speech for Bush’s nomination. Dornan’s speech has not been announced by the Republican Party. But Dornan, who was one of the first conservatives to publicly endorse Bush and who has been actively campaigning for him, said he has been asked to give the seconding speech.

Vasquez’s speech is scheduled for about 5:30 p.m. Aug. 17. Bush’s nomination is scheduled about an hour later.

Red Caveney, director of official proceedings for the convention, said Bush selected Vasquez because “he has an excellent reputation for what he’s done and what he’s accomplished at such a young age.” Vasquez is 33.

Vasquez is one of 10 Latino speakers scheduled throughout the convention, Caveney said. “What the campaign is trying to do is show that its ideas . . . are embraced by a wide range of people.”

Vasquez, a delegate and the spokesman for the California Latino caucus at the GOP convention, said he will not disclose the subject of his speech before it is delivered.

“I am very honored to be a participant,” Vasquez said Friday. “I think Bush is a man of tremendous depth in terms of experience, and he has a proven ability to provide leadership.”

Vasquez also said he believes that the number of Latinos registering as Republicans is growing.

“There is an increase in registration . . . (and) a sharing of the philosophy, particularly as it relates to family, to God and to country,” Vasquez said. “I think the (Latino) vote is going to have to be sought out just like any other electorate.”

Vasquez, who lives in Mission Viejo, was appointed to the Board of Supervisors from the 3rd District last year by Gov. George Deukmejian and won election to a four-year term in June. A former Orange police officer, Vasquez also served as an aide to Deukmejian and to former 3rd District Supervisor Bruce Nestande.

Dornan said the subject of his speech will be Bush’s military record, including his distinction as the youngest Navy pilot in World War II to be decorated after being shot down during a bombing run.