Seymour Vows to Make a Mark : Politics: He says he’ll move quickly to prove that he can retain his U.S. Senate seat for the Republicans. He also exhibits an independent streak in his first stand-alone appearance.

Moving quickly to dispel fears that he does not have the political stature needed to retain his U.S. Senate seat for Republicans, state Sen. John Seymour promised Thursday to make his mark quickly as a strong advocate for California in Washington and declared that he is ready for a marathon election campaign.

In his first stand-alone appearance after being picked by Gov.-elect Pete Wilson as his Senate replacement through 1992, the Anaheim Republican defined himself as a “compassionate conservative” in the Wilson mold. But the 53-year-old millionaire real estate developer also exhibited an independent streak. He said he and Wilson have differed over issues in the past and are likely to in the future--over housing programs, for one, and on the environment.

Speaking at a news conference in Anaheim, Seymour said he was more likely to consider the importance of economic issues than Wilson in deciding his position on environmental issues. Seymour described his as a “balanced approach.”

Seymour also challenged his critics on the Republican right to examine his conservative credentials, declaring that he will match them with anyone’s. Some conservatives criticized Seymour as a lightweight, noting that he failed to win the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 1990.

Seymour said he does not expect to cruise to the GOP nomination for senator in 1992 just because he has been anointed by Wilson, who will be inaugurated as governor on Monday.

“I think once the conservatives get to know John Seymour and are clear where he stands on issues, they’ll be OK,” Seymour said.

On the question of his environmental philosophy, Seymour said, “I am probably different from Pete Wilson. I might differ with him in the matter of degree or the approach as to the protection of the environment.”

Seymour noted that during his Republican primary campaign for lieutenant governor he tended to side with timber workers over protection of old-growth forests and the threatened spotted owl.

While campaigning in Northern California timber country, Wilson generally was noncommittal when logging interests protested environmental protection for the owls. And he has supported the preservation of old-growth redwood trees now in private hands.

Seymour pinpointed abortion as his major point of difference with the Republican right wing. Former Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) also was in favor of abortion rights, Seymour said, adding, “I don’t think you get any more conservative than Barry Goldwater.”

On two major issues he will face in Washington as early as next week--the Persian Gulf and the nation’s faltering economy--Seymour placed himself firmly with Wilson, President Bush and most Republican conservatives. He said he hopes for an American withdrawal without the need for war but said the United States could settle for no less than “complete and total withdrawal” of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

As for the budget, Seymour said he supported Bush’s proposal to cut the capital gains tax rate. He said further lowering of interest rates would help stimulate the economy. Without saying the word taxes , Seymour said that “the last thing” Washington should do is take more money from the people.

Looking to the 1992 election, Seymour acknowledged that to earn a second Senate term, he will be judged on his Senate service and not just his proven abilities as a campaigner and fund-raiser, which were major factors in his selection by Wilson.

“I’ll tell you, I’m going to hit the ground running. I have to. I have to. I have to show the people of California that I can perform,” Seymour said, his voice rising. “I can run the best doggone campaign in the world . . . but that is not going to do it. What is going to do it is that John Seymour has got to perform and he’s got to make his mark very quickly. “

Seymour and Wilson wasted no time in getting his election campaign going, in advance even of his swearing-in as a U.S. senator, which probably will occur about the middle of next week.

About 200 of Seymour’s friends and political supporters gathered at a hastily arranged luncheon rally in an Anaheim hotel Thursday. The master of ceremonies was Orange County Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez, who was widely speculated upon as a possible Wilson Senate appointee. As a Latino, Vasquez had been touted by some as the sort of dramatic choice Wilson could use to create an instant political star and to make a major political statement: that California’s huge Latino population is welcome within the state’s corridors of Republican power.

By contrast, many political observers--Republicans as well as Democrats--viewed the Seymour selection as uninspired. Here, they said, was another white, middle-aged male politician--and not a very well-known one at that. Potential Democratic candidates suddenly found the two-year Senate race more inviting.

At his news conference after the lunch, Seymour was asked to define himself for the millions of California voters who know little or nothing about him.

The political portrait he sketched was very Wilson-like: “a compassionate conservative” who is tough on crime, drugs, taxes, spending, defense and national security, but who cares about a strong public education system, other matters that affect children, the plight of the disabled, and a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion.