Newspaper Sox It to Cox With USC Yearbook Photo

The headline read “Cox sans sox.” But for that matter, Cox was sans anything--except a tie.

Cox, in this case, is C. Christopher Cox, the Republican candidate for the 40th Congressional District, the bastion of conservatism that he is expected to inherit from Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) in November.

In what Cox said must be a test of his sense of humor, an underground Orange County newspaper called The County dug up the picture of Cox’s fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, in USC’s 1970 yearbook.

There, in all their glory, were Cox and 40 or so of his frat brothers. The ones in the front row had placed their hands in strategic places. Cox was in the back row, far right. A fraternity brother served as a partial screen, but Cox’s right leg could be seen right down to his bare toes.

Cox, a 36-year-old lawyer who worked for President Reagan in the White House before returning to Newport Beach to run for Congress, said the picture was intended to make fun of the staid group pictures that are standard in yearbooks. Another year, he said, all the Delta Tau Deltas blinked for the camera. (They were fully clothed.)

“It was an interesting group of guys who ultimately have become very successful and who at the time obviously had an offbeat sense of humor,” Cox said. “Some still do.”

In a race where more than $1 million has been spent, it was a quarter--that’s right, 25 cents--that brought together the two combatants in the 72nd Assembly District--Republican Curt Pringle and Democrat Christian F. (Rick) Thierbach.

Moments before their final joint appearance of the campaign, Pringle and Thierbach recently stood alone in the shadows of an auditorium at Rancho Santiago College. They had to flip a coin to determine who would speak first at a candidate’s forum.

Both men dug into their pockets for some silver.

Pringle, who has raised more than $618,000 for his campaign, had only a nickel. Thierbach, who has banked $556,040 for his Assembly run, had a quarter.

“We talked about it and decided to use the quarter,” Pringle said, laughing. “It’s heavier.”

And did the two men, who grew up only a few miles apart in central Orange County, delve into any other weighty issues in their moment alone, away from their campaign handlers and image shapers?

“We both agreed we’d be glad when this whole thing is over,” Pringle said. “It’s been a long campaign.”

Meet Jack Dean, a candidate for the U.S. Senate in California.

Never heard of him? Well, you’re not alone.

Dean, a Fullerton advertising executive, is a Libertarian, one of those minor party candidates who rarely gets a mention in the same breath with his more prominent Senate opponents, incumbent GOP Sen. Pete Wilson and Democrat Leo T. McCarthy.

Dean, the former state chairman of the Libertarian Party, is running a typical third-party campaign: little money and even less visibility.

Wilson, seeking a second 6-year term, has raised $12.5 million, more than any other U.S. Senate candidate around the country.

Dean, 40, has received about $15,000, much of it going to cover travel expenses, some political flyers and phone calls.

The phone is Dean’s primary weapon. He is a favorite on radio talk shows, largely, he acknowledged, because “I’m a member of that wacky Libertarian Party. People think we’re extremists, so they figure if we’re on the show it will prompt people to call in.”

Considering his positions, Dean is probably right.

An advocate of free trade, he favors legalizing drugs to drive down prices and undercut the lucrative black market for narcotics. Crime would also be reduced, he said, because gangs, formed largely to transport and sell drugs, would be robbed of their primary activity.

He also supports the privatization of road building and abolishment of the minimum wage.

Dean said that he has been ready, willing and rearing to talk issues but complains that the media have not.

“It’s been particularly frustrating in light of the media’s criticism that the majority of political candidates today don’t deal with substantive issues,” said Dean, who contends that Libertarians received more coverage when the party began sponsoring candidates for statewide offices in the early 1980s.

“In 1980, we were novel, a curiosity to a lot of people,” he said. “Now we’re just old hat. . . .”

Television is the latest weapon employed by Democrat Jerry Yudelson in his campaign to unseat incumbent Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) in the 38th Congressional District.

In a 30-second spot, which began airing last week on Rogers Cable TV, Yudelson zaps Dornan on his credibility. Throughout the campaign, Yudelson, an environmental engineer, has portrayed Dornan as a politician who says one thing and does another.

The TV spot, airing in Garden Grove, Westminster and Stanton, about half the district, opens with a shot of a man--from the neck down--seated beside a lie detector machine. An announcer then says: “Bob Dornan says he’ll be a congressman we can count on. But then, Bob Dornan says a lot of things.”

As the announcer recites Dornan’s claims that he has been “real good” for seniors, for example, the stylus on the lie detector machine swings erratically with blinking lights. The spot claims that Dornan has voted against Social Security, health care and senior needs 90% of the time.

The spot was produced by the national Democratic Party and was made available to local party candidates who then change the wording to fit their race.

Yudelson called the spots an “effective dramatization of our message.” Dornan’s chief of staff, Brian Bennett, had a different impression: “It’s another silly ploy to grab attention.”

Speaking of Dornan, the congressman filed a complaint Friday with the Federal Election Commission after discovering that Yudelson’s campaign signs did not carry the required disclaimer saying who paid for them.

Dornan learned of the omission when he recently stopped at the Democratic Party’s central campaign headquarters in Santa Ana and was given one of his opponent’s yard signs as a joke. As he left, Brian Bennett, his aide, noticed the disclaimer was missing, a violation of federal election laws. A candidate can be fined if the violation is not corrected, an FEC spokeswoman said.

“Mr. Yudelson goes around talking about credibility and yet he seems to be on the wrong side of the law,” Bennett said.

Yudelson, who said the matter was an oversight by the company that produced the signs, said new signs with the disclaimer are being made up. As for Dornan’s attention to the matter, the Democrat said: “After weeks of trying, he’s finally taking me seriously as a candidate.”