LOS ALAMITOS : Anti-Rohrabacher Protest Draws 50

About 50 protesters gathered Friday in front of the office of U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Long Beach) to call for his ouster because of his recent efforts to restrict funds to the National Endowment for the Arts and for his position on other issues.

The peaceful demonstration was staged by the Southern California Coalition for Responsible Government, a political action committee formed to try to unseat Rohrabacher in the Nov. 6 election.

Watching the demonstrators from about 25 feet away was Rohrabacher’s campaign manager, Gene Ferguson. Rohrabacher was out of town Friday.

“These are clearly the vocal minority,” Ferguson said. “Congressman Rohrabacher has no problem with objectionable or silly art. All he wants is for them to make their art on their dollars and not the voters’.”

Ferguson said that while Rohrabacher may lose some votes because of his NEA stance, he is confident of winning reelection.

“We have been getting an overwhelming amount of support from the constituents involving Dana’s NEA efforts. And in Washington, we have received 40,000 letters in support,” Ferguson said.

Organizers of this political action committee are part of the Orange County/Long Beach chapter of the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression, a Washington lobbying group created in April to fight limitations on NEA funding of arts.

In addition to those protesting Rohrabacher’s NEA position, other demonstrators called for him to take stronger stands on environmental and senior citizen issues.

Long Beach Museum of Art Director Harold Nelson, who is the coalition’s treasurer, was one of four people who spoke during the demonstration.

“It has been said that Americans get the government they deserve,” Nelson said in his speech. “We are here today because we believe that our congressional district deserves better than Dana Rohrabacher.”

Besides this demonstration and other planned in the future, Nelson said, the coalition is busy producing a series of anti-Rohrabacher cable television ads.

“We hope to make four or five 30-second spots,” said Jeffrey Chester, a Los Angeles-based media consultant who is press spokesman for the group.

Chester said the ads will start airing about Labor Day.