Local Democrats Finally See Some Life in the Party : Politics: After a lost decade in the doldrums, county activists convene with a winning attitude.

For more than a decade, the Democratic Party has been a sputtering also-ran in Orange County’s political demolition derby. Little more than two years ago, the party’s local chapter was flat broke, its executive director had quit and it didn’t hold a single seat in the state Legislature or Congress.

Times have changed. Today, there’s money in the bank, an energetic staff is on board and the Democrats even hold an Assembly seat in the county. Suddenly, the mood is upbeat, and the Orange County Democratic Party has started acting like the Avis of local politics: No. 2, but trying harder.

In that spirit, the party faithful kick the campaign machinery into gear for ’92 with the Orange County Democratic Convention tonight and Saturday at the Anaheim Hilton and Towers.

Organizers hope to draw upward of 1,000 people for the event, in part because of an impressive list of headliners--the party’s five top candidates for the pair of U.S. Senate seats up for grabs in California this year.

Aside from the usual backslapping and speech-making, the convention features a straw poll to pick a Senate and presidential favorite (four years ago, delegates threw off their image as moderates and selected the Rev. Jesse Jackson).

In addition, the party conducted a telephone poll of 460 registered Democrats in Orange County, yielding an avalanche of intriguing results.

Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton was favored by 20% in the presidential race, but double that number remain undecided. Former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas received 14.6%, while former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. got 14.1%.

Former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein and Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy got the nod for the two Senate seats, getting about 50% each.

The poll also discovered that Orange County Democrats, like many voters nationwide, say the economy is the most important issue facing the country. Fifty-nine percent rated it first, followed by unemployment (12%), health care (5%) and the federal budget deficit (3%). Asked if they’re better off now than they were four years ago, 39% of the Democrats polled said they were worse off, 32% said their fortunes were the same and 7% felt they were better off.

Whether such opinions translate into action at the ballot box remains to be seen. But local Democratic leaders are confident that a large showing by the rank and file starting tonight at the county convention will translate into a sizable chunk of campaign cash as well as potential recruits for the election wars ahead.

They’ll need both. Republicans in the county outnumber Democrats by a wider margin today than ever before--nearly 2 to 1. Moreover, the Orange County Republican Party has proven particularly adept at raising money and trotting out formidable candidates.

Democratic leaders, however, suggest a new age may be dawning in the county. The Reagan ‘80s are over, they proclaim, and the 1990s promise to be a far more hospitable environment for Democrats. If the party could gain the White House, the reverberations could even be felt in Orange County.

“If I’ve seen nothing else, I’ve seen that this thing goes in cycles,” said Howard Adler, the party’s Orange County chairman. “We seem to be at the end of the Reagan era. I think people are prepared to register Democrat this year.”

For their part, most Republican leaders scoff at the notion of a resurgent Orange County Democratic Party.

“They’re an endangered species,” said Harvey Englander, a Newport Beach-based Republican political consultant. “They’re just not a factor in terms of partisan politics in California or the nation. They’re not a factor in local races. It’s sort of a sad lot.”

While a Democratic revival might seem dubious in a county so long dominated by the GOP, there is precedent. In 1978, during the post-Watergate years when Jimmy Carter was President, registered Democrats edged out Republicans 45.8% to 45.5%. The party held half the legislative and congressional seats and three of five spots on the County Board of Supervisors.

Even today, Orange County’s more than 350,000 registered Democrats represent the party’s third-largest block in the state, behind only Los Angeles and San Diego counties.

“There’s even more registered Democrats here than in San Francisco, which is considered to be a real stronghold for the party in California,” Adler noted.

All those votes make the Democratic Party in Orange County, despite its time-tested image as a political weakling next to the muscle-bound Republicans, something to be reckoned with, in particular for moderate Democrats eager to counteract liberal strongholds such as West Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Political consultants say two U.S. Senate candidates in particular, McCarthy and Feinstein, stand to gain by coming to Orange County before the June 2 primary. McCarthy is running against Rep. Mel Levin (D-Santa Monica) and Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Marin) for one seat, while Feinstein is pitted against Controller Gray Davis for the other.

Aside from offering a sizable parcel of votes, local Democrats funnel big bucks into the coffers of a variety of statewide and national politicians, party officials say.

An organization formed by Adler in 1984, the Democratic Foundation, donated heavily to several candidates in 1990. The most notable recipient was Tom Umberg, who got $60,000 from the club and its members, helping him capture the 69th Assembly District seat and become the first Democrat elected in Orange County since 1986.

“Orange County is the automatic teller machine for nationwide and state politics,” said George Urch, Umberg’s chief of staff. “We don’t get as much attention as the Republicans because the amounts aren’t as large, but it’s significant.”

Party regulars also suspect that Democratic candidates can make some headway in several local races.

Adler predicted that the Democrat who emerges after the 46th Congressional District primary could give incumbent Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) a stiff challenge. In 1990, Democrat Barbara Jackson gleaned 42% of the vote even though she pulled out of the race against Dornan, giving party leaders hope that the longtime conservative could prove vulnerable.

The task of reelecting Umberg remains “priority one” for the party, Adler said. But a trio of other Assembly races also look promising, he said.

In the 68th Assembly District, party officials expect John Kanel, a seasoned Democratic legislative aide, to square off in a toe-to-toe battle with former Republican Assemblyman Curt Pringle.

Adler said primary election infighting among Republicans in the 67th Assembly District--where incumbents Tom Mays (R-Huntington Beach), Nolan Frizzelle (R-Fountain Valley) and Doris Allen (R-Cypress) are butting heads--could open a door for the Democrat, Huntington Beach businessman Ken LeBlanc.

The same scenario could play out in the 70th Assembly District, where a stern challenge from Costa Mesa Mayor Mary Hornbuckle could weaken conservative Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) enough for Democrat Jim Toledano, a Costa Mesa lawyer, to make a run, Adler said.

Even if those Democratic candidates fall short, party strategists suggest that the mere act of running a strong campaign could help the party statewide, siphoning GOP money from other, more competitive races as the Republican Party makes a big push to capture the state Legislature in November.

Republicans like Englander don’t buy it.

“I’ve heard that sad refrain for many years . . . and it’s being sung off key,” he said. “The Democratic Party isn’t going to throw money into local races. You’ve just got to look at the numbers (of voters). It’s just not going to happen.”

Adler, for one, would love to see his party prove it can run strong--and gain a bit more respect in Orange County. It could depend in part on what happens in the presidential race.

“In recent years, it just hasn’t been socially fashionable to be a Democrat in this county,” he said. “Many Democrats feel isolated, alone. But it could change. There’s a real correlation between what happens on top and on the local level. If we control the White House and governorship, it could change.”