1988 : THE YEAR IN REVIEW : 1988: a Humbling Year for the Mighty

In Orange County in 1988, the natural disasters were few. The human misfortunes were many.

The ground didn’t shake too much, and even the drought-parched canyons did not ignite. True, there was the winter storm early in the year that caused the newly rebuilt Huntington Beach Pier to collapse.

But that was nothing compared to the collapse of careers and the tumbling of stature among many of the county’s once-towering figures.

It was the year that the mighty fell:

- A rising star in the Republican Party plummeted when he forged a signature on a check in a last-ditch effort to bail out his campaign for Congress.

- A millionaire video producer from Newport Beach was charged with making illegal campaign contributions to failed Democratic presidential hopeful Gary Hart and other candidates.

- An Orange County supervisor, running for Congress, was caught red-faced when it was revealed that she did not graduate from college, as her biographies stated.

- Even the always-powerful Orange County Republican Party took it on the chin when it posted uniformed security guards at polling places in Latino areas of Santa Ana to warn non-citizens not to vote, prompting an FBI investigation into allegations of voter intimidation.

Indeed, 1988 was the election year that many people would like to forget.

In January, the venerable Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), a six-term congressman, surprised supporters by announcing that he would not run for reelection, which opened the door to a free-for-all that led to a promising young politician’s demise.

C. David Baker, Irvine city councilman and former college basketball star, seemed to be the heir-apparent to Badham’s seat until C. Christopher Cox gave him a run for his money in the June primary. And when that money began to run short in the final days before the election, a desperate Baker turned to the bank account of a nonprofit health foundation that he directed for an advance on a loan that was a few days late. He wrote a $48,000 check to himself, signing his own name and forging the signature of a judge, a foundation director. He stopped payment on the check shortly after it was written, but the damage was done.

Baker, who was narrowly defeated by Cox, pleaded guilty to a felony forgery count, but a Superior Court judge later reduced the charge to a misdemeanor. The judge ordered Baker to perform community service and gave him a year’s probation and a 1-year suspended jail sentence.

“Regardless of what the penalty was today, this will not be over,” Baker said on the day he was sentenced. Even when the sentence was imposed, Baker was delivering hot meals to the elderly and working with children. “Some good will come out of this one way or another. I’m not really sure how.”

Another legislative seat unexpectedly opened with the death of Assemblyman Richard E. Longshore (R-Santa Ana) the day after voters nominated him for a second term.

That opened up a king-sized contest between Republicans and Democrats for his seat, and that race, too, led to a finish-line stumble.

Sent Out the Guards

In their fervor to see their candidate, Curt Pringle, win, county Republican Party officials not only got out the vote on Nov. 8, they also sent out the guards.

Uniformed security guards were hired by the party to stand watch at heavily Latino polling places to warn people that it was illegal for non-citizens to vote. The Democrats cried foul, and even high-ranking Republicans denounced the move. The FBI and district attorney’s office are now investigating whether election laws were violated, and several Latino and labor organizations have filed suit to overturn the election results in the 72nd Assembly District, where Pringle ended up winning by a mere 867 votes.

Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder’s election foibles left her with a red face. Running for Congress in the June primary, Wieder conceded under pressure from her opponent that she had left uncorrected a 25-year-old error on her biography that stated she had received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Wayne State University in Detroit. In truth, she was unable to attend college because of family finances. Also under fire from slow-growth advocates for her votes on development agreements, Wieder lost the race.

Karl Stubbed His Toe

Republicans did not have a monopoly on election-year problems. Stuart Karl Jr., the millionaire producer of the Jane Fonda workout tapes, was fined $60,000 and placed on 3 years’ probation for making $185,000 in illegal campaign contributions to self-destructing presidential candidate Gary Hart and others.

“To be honest, I’m not sure why I did these things,” Karl said after his sentencing. “You’re attracted to the lure of being involved. People begin to make you feel important. I should have looked deeper and not done the things I did. . . . “

Hamburger magnate Carl N. Karcher also took a tumble. Known for his fast food and patriotism, the founder of Carl’s Jr. restaurants was accused by the federal government of insider trading, for allegedly tipping off his relatives about some bad news that his company was about to release. While a federal judge has ruled that Karcher’s son, Carl Leo Karcher, did engage in the illegal behavior, the case against the senior Karcher is still pending.

“These charges are totally false,” Karcher said after the civil lawsuit was filed in April. “My wife and I did not sell any of our stock, nor did we tell anyone else to do so. . . . To suggest that any of us would intentionally violate the securities laws is highly offensive.”

Crystal Cathedral Cutback

Even God’s squad was taken down a notch or two in 1988. While televangelist Robert H. Schuller stayed clear of the scandals that rocked his collared colleagues, the fallout hit the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. In May, Schuller announced sharp cutbacks in his “Hour of Power” broadcast ministry, a result of reduced contributions because of televangelism scandal “shock waves,” the October, 1987, stock market crash and the decision by a New York City cable television station to eliminate paid religious programming.

Still, not everyone had a bad 1988. Braving the Siberian cold, marathon swimmer Lynne Cox of Los Alamitos became the first person to navigate a significant distance across the Soviet Union’s Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake. America’s darling and Placentia’s own Janet Evans won three gold medals in the pool at the Summer Olympics in Seoul.

And despite the misfortunes of other politicians, two former White House aides were launched on promising careers. Cox, after toughing it out with Baker in the congressional primary, sailed to easy victory in November. Dana Rohrabacher, after tipping off voters to Wieder’s erroneous resume, was elected to the 42nd Congressional District post that was vacated by Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach), who tried--and failed--to become the state’s treasurer.

Political Comeback

Still, there was perhaps no bigger political comeback in Orange County in 1988 than the one that took place on a gentle hillside in Yorba Linda.

The honoree was not able to attend, but hundreds of supporters gathered to watch a bulldozer scrape up the first bucket of dirt where a library soon will stand to house the papers and mementos of Orange County’s native son and the nation’s only resigned president, Richard M. Nixon.

Times Orange County Edition librarian Dan Crump assisted in the research of this article.