Orange County? We’re Talking GOP Territory : Politics: The Nixon library is another badge on the chest of this bastion of conservatism and will be worn proudly.

Orange County isn’t known for its cuisine or its architecture or even a crop, like Iowa’s corn. No, to the rest of the nation, Orange County is famous for its politics.

This is the place where a Republican politician is treated like the returning war hero in a John Wayne movie and a Democrat, almost like the faceless enemy. But then, there aren’t many elected Democrats and none ranked higher than small-town mayor.

So when Richard M. Nixon decided to build his presidential library in Yorba Linda, it was received by an enthusiastic and almost blushing audience. The nation’s most controversial living President faced protests at other possible locations, but in Orange County the host was genuinely honored.

It is another badge on the conservative Orange County chest, and it will be worn with all the gusto of a distinguished champion. If Nixon is a hero anywhere, it is here.

“This is an occasion that absolutely brings tears of joy to my eyes because Richard Nixon is finally being given the credit and acknowledgement that he deserves,” said Orange County Republican Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes, who greeted Nixon in 1974 when he arrived from Washington at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station one day after his resignation.

“The library will forever be a special presence of him in the community that loves him and always has loved him and wishes him well,” he said.

Perhaps the most vivid demonstration of Orange County’s unflinching support for Nixon came in a scene from his darkest hour. When Nixon resigned, some parts of the nation celebrated and in some parts, there was relief. But in Orange County, an emotional and sympathetic crowd of nearly 5,000 people crowded the El Toro base when Air Force One touched down with Nixon and his family on Aug. 9, 1974--their first day as private citizens.

Many waited two hours on that hot summer afternoon, and when Nixon and his wife, Pat, stepped from the aircraft onto the red-carpeted stairway, they chanted: “We want Nixon! We want Nixon!”

Some cried. Others waved American flags. And some carried posters with the slogan from his 1972 reelection campaign: “President Nixon, Now More Than Ever.”

Nixon recalled the scene in his latest book, “In the Arena,” as an emotionally difficult one for him. During the brief stop, he hesitated before stepping to a microphone where he told the cheering Orange County crowd: “We are home again.”

As the helicopter rotors cranked up for the short ride to San Clemente, the crowd began singing--softly at first--”God Bless America.”

The Times reported the following day: “It was the first time Mr. Nixon had faced the public since his Watergate crisis had worsened in the last few weeks. He picked a friendly place, Orange County, where he lives and was born, an area that faithfully falls into the Republican column on Election Day.”

Orange County is a place where people seem to like their lives and want them to stay that way. In a poll by The Times last year, an astonishing 96% of the people said they were happy and one-third went so far as to say “Living in Orange County is the closest thing to paradise in America today.”

Translated into politics, it is a community that resists change.

Orange County Republicanism is anti-communist, free enterprise and small government. It is heavily influenced by the libertarian philosophy integral to its history. And it is home to some of the nation’s most conservative politicians--namely U.S. Reps. Robert K. Dornan and William E. Dannemeyer.

In Washington, both have controversial reputations, but they both have enjoyed solid support in their districts. It’s one of Orange County’s many nowhere-but-here political stories.

In the 1988 elections, conservative hero Oliver L. North, who was later convicted of crimes involving the Iran-Contra scandal, campaigned for two Orange County congressional candidates, both of whom won in crowded fields of Republican opponents.

And Nixon himself, who has hardly made any campaign appearances since leaving Washington, traveled to Orange County for a $1,000-per-plate fund-raiser on behalf of Bruce Herschensohn’s 1986 Senate bid.

This comfortable Republican turf is also where a high-flying Ronald Reagan kicked off his 1984 reelection campaign. And on the final day of California’s closely fought 1986 Senate race, Republican candidate Ed Zschau made his last stand at an outdoor Orange County rally headlined by Reagan.

Consider some other evidence of the county’s GOP muscle:

Basically, GOP candidates look to Orange County for their victory margins in statewide races. Orange County is the Republican counterweight to Democratic San Francisco. There is a general rule of thumb among political strategists that a Republican candidate who wins in Orange County by more than 270,000 votes will be virtually unbeatable statewide and a GOP candidate who loses Orange County cannot win in California.

“Orange County has become the Republican fulcrum in California,” said Ken Khachigian, a nationally known GOP speech writer and consultant from San Clemente. “As a Republican strategist, I automatically view what margin I want to take out of Orange County as my potential victory margin statewide. It’s the base, it’s where we start.”

Republicans have a virtual monopoly on elected power in Orange County. They essentially represent all of the county’s state and federal districts. All five county supervisors are Republican. And of the county’s 150 city council members, 117 are Republican. There are also 29 mayors in Orange County and only three are Democrats.

As demonstrated in this year’s June primary, the county is also an exporter of its political influence. Of the 12 Republican candidates running for statewide office in the primary, half lived in Orange County or represented it while in office.

Not only is Orange County rich in Republican votes, it is also rich in dollars. The county Republican committee is the largest and wealthiest in the state, with a paid staff of about 18 who conduct a year-round fund-raising and voter registration effort. The committee spent more than $600,000 during the 1988 election and its most prestigious affiliate--the Lincoln Club--added another $300,000.

Lamenting the lopsided politics, a delegate to the county Democratic Party Central Committee said at a recent meeting: “In Los Angeles, I knew what it was like to be discriminated against as a woman and a Hispanic. Now I know what it is like to be discriminated against as a Democrat.”

On the other hand, there are nearly 400,000 registered Democrats in Orange County, the party’s second-largest pocket of voters in the state. So it does draw attention from statewide candidates such as the party’s gubernatorial nominee, Dianne Feinstein.

But there are more than 600,000 registered Republicans. The GOP has an edge in registered voters of about 55% to 35%--its strongest ratio in California.

Hugh Hewitt, executive director of the Nixon library foundation, says it is a “happy accident” that the library ended up on friendly Republican soil. It wasn’t a requirement, he said, but it was a welcome factor.

OTHER VIEWS: Some unhappy campers out there in Nixon land. A20