Still Reeling, Democrats Face Conflict Within Leaders’ Ranks

Last year was a tough one for county Democrats, even tougher than most in a county where a Democrat can sometimes feel like Sisyphus eternally rolling his stone up the hill in Hades.

It was, of course, expected that Democratic presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis would lose in the overwhelmingly Republican county. But many had hoped that he would lose by a small enough margin to gain a statewide victory, when balanced against heavily Democratic areas of the state. Bush, however, won the county by more than 300,000 votes as part of a national landslide.

But what hurt local Democratic leaders even more was their loss in the 72nd Assembly District after a bitter $1.9-million battle. They finally had a candidate--a prosecutor and school board member--who they thought had all the qualities needed to recapture the mid-county legislative district that is the only one they had a chance to win. Out of 66,000 votes cast on Election Day, however, he fell a tantalizing 867 short of the target.

It’s no wonder that it’s hard to get Democrats motivated. “The party keeps pumping itself up for races, and we keep losing,” said one county Democratic leader who asked not to be identified. “We seem to be moving backward, not forward.”

Now would seem to be a time of healing for Democrats. But it hasn’t been. Party leaders have been concerned that two officials who should be pulling together have been sniping at each other.

“It’s a political soap opera,” one Democrat said.

“It’s a tempest in a teapot,” another said. “They’re both trying to prove what hotshots they are.”

The two people involved were elected to leadership roles this year: Michael Balmages, 42, chairman of the county Democratic Party, and Audrey Redfearn, 58, chairwoman of the Democratic Foundation, a support group of $1,000-per-year contributors.

While there are several other smaller--some say even petty--issues involved, the main disagreement between the two appears to be over whether the foundation can continue its $1,000-per-month support of the party under the new restrictions imposed by Proposition 73, the campaign contribution law that passed last fall.

Balmages said he has checked with the state Fair Political Practices Commission, which said the foundation can legally contribute money to the party for operating expenses.

Redfearn said a legal opinion obtained by the foundation indicated that it could not contribute more than $2,500 in the current reporting period, an amount it has already reached.

“From what I understand . . . it’s not clear yet,” she said. “They keep reinterpreting the law.”

She said she and the board are waiting for a written opinion from the commission that would clear the way for further contributions to the party.

“The foundation is committed to supporting the party, but we want to make sure we’re on good legal ground,” she said.

Both Balmages and Redfearn tried to downplay differences. “I have one style, and he has another,” Redfearn said.

She described Balmages as “quite flamboyant” and herself as a consensus-seeker. “I take my politics very seriously,” she said.

Redfearn is an elegant, quiet-spoken, behind-the-scenes worker who has come up through the ranks with such mentors as Democratic stalwarts Richard J. O’Neill and Howard Adler. Together, they could be called the “old guard.”

By contrast, Balmages, a bearded, one-time trial lawyer-turned-corporate attorney, has high energy to the point of being almost swashbuckling. He represents the “new guard.”

As chairman of the foundation, Redfearn’s job is to attract bigger givers to the party and provide a place for them to rally around Democratic candidates. During the last election, the foundation brought several presidential nominees to the county, including Dukakis, Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.).

Balmages’ job is different. He must foster party-building activities, including gathering the volunteers needed for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts. He must also scour the political landscape for Democratic candidates to run in legislative and congressional races. That’s not easy when Republicans dominate by a registration margin of 55.3% to 34.6% and hold every legislative and congressional office, except a small piece of a state Senate district in northeastern Orange County.

To accomplish this, Balmages has ideas. He wants to get a mail campaign under way to try to reach the county’s nearly 400,000 Democrats. He wants to find good candidates to challenge the GOP’s lock on local offices. He talks about such things as the need for a “critical mass” of Democratic support that will cause a “chain reaction” in rebuilding the party.

To do that, he needs money. The county Democratic Party was counting on the foundation to provide the monthly $1,000 base of support for the party. Balmages said he will build a body of contributors to provide the rest of the $5,000 a month he believes is needed to put Democrats back on the map. “Orange County is a wealthy enough place to support that,” Balmages said.

(By comparison, the county GOP has a budget in its off-election years of $20,000 to $25,000 a month, which nearly doubles in campaign years.)

Redfearn was not present at a foundation board meeting where Balmages most clearly spelled out his problems with her and the foundation. He was variously described at this gathering as “confrontational” and “direct.”

“I’m a trial lawyer by profession,” Balmages said afterward. “Trial lawyers are confrontational. If they’re not, they’re not worth a damn.”

Balmages is aware that Democrats need to pull together if they ever want to compete again in the county. He does not seem to be afraid of dissension as a means to that end. “I view my job (as being) to maximize the interests of the Democratic Party,” Balmages said. “Anything I do with the Democratic Foundation is to further that goal. If that is viewed as confrontational and demanding, so be it.”