Marching to Right-Wing Beat of a Different Drummer

Orange County’s national reputation as a breeding ground for firebrand archconservatives has been stoked during the last decade by the very public performances of Congressmen William E. Dannemeyer, Robert K. Dornan and Dana Rohrabacher.

Whether it’s Dannemeyer’s anti-gay pronouncements, Dornan’s zest in fighting the abortion rights movement (not to mention flight attendants) or Rohrabacher’s attack on the National Endowment for the Arts or his recent “Pedro” speech, the three have characterized the county for the folks back East.

All three are from the bloody-nose school of politics. Not content to just have you disagree with them, they revel in the playground fight and are happiest when people on all sides have gotten their knees dirty and their clothes torn in the scuffle.

Then there’s Christopher Cox, who comes across as the kid who wears freshly pressed clothes to school, raises his hand before speaking and whom the teacher always picks to be the hall monitor.

To Democrats, however, you’d think Cox would be viewed more as the baby-faced assassin. Still only 39 and wrapping up his second term in the House of Representatives, Cox, at least on paper, is every bit as conservative as his three Orange County colleagues whose names are anathema to liberals.

Yet, far from feeling rancorous about Cox, Orange County Democratic Chairman Howard Adler tips his cap to him. “Ideologically, I’ll always work for a Democrat because (Cox) is in the wrong direction from where I’m coming from. But I’ve been impressed with his commitment to local concerns, and not only his commitment but in getting something done about it.”

Adler said Cox has moved quickly on a couple of issues that had been hanging around the district for years. He’s also quick to separate Cox from the more voluble threesome.

“I think they’re more than embarrassing. They’re dangerous,” Adler said. “They speak without thinking, in my view, and they tend to diminish everything that they’re trying to resolve. They go off in some of the strangest directions. It just makes me wonder about their priorities. . . . Cox likes to solve problems; the other guys like to create them.”

Cox’s conservative credentials are impeccable. “(Cox) is definitely a friend of ACU,” says a spokesman for the American Conservative Union, a national group that rates the Congress on its support of conservative causes. “He’s a 100 percenter.”

ACU’s current “lifetime” ratings give Cox a 95 out of 100. Dornan and Rohrabacher are 97s, with Dannemeyer a 96. The average rating for a House Republican is about 75, the ACU spokesman said.

For 1991, Cox actually outscored Dornan, chalking up a perfect 100 on the ACU scale, while Dornan slipped to a 95 because of his support for a gun control-related measure the ACU opposed.

Nathan Rosenberg was one of the dozen or so other Republicans Cox defeated in the 1988 primary that launched him on his political career. Rosenberg had hard feelings toward Cox that weren’t soothed until after the election. “It got too personal for me,” he says.

Rosenberg now says he’s sorry Cox didn’t go for the open U.S. Senate seat available this year. “Of the representatives from Orange County, I think he’s the finest, and among the best in California,” Rosenberg said, citing Cox’s work ethic and overall grasp of “the nuts and bolts” of getting things done in Washington.

Robert Nelson runs an Orange County public relations firm that has advised a number of Republican candidates over the years. He describes the contrast between Cox and his three colleagues as “the difference between heat and light. Chris Cox is just a lot more interested in getting solutions than he is in debating the problem.”

Nelson, who hasn’t been professionally involved in Cox’s campaigns, fairly gushes over his intelligence, commitment to issues and political temperament.

“This is the home of ‘Utt the nut,’ ” Nelson said, referring to the late James Utt, another archconservative former Orange County congressman. “We’ve always had this reputation of being hyper-conservative. Dannemeyer and B1 Bob (Dornan) and Rohrabacher are only the latest iterations or releases in a long series of albums from the right wing. . . . I’m trying to think when the last time before Cox there was an Orange County Republican who was respected as being a legislative force.”

Nelson thinks Cox’s eventual resting place in government might be as a Cabinet member or undersecretary in a department such as Treasury or State. The built-in disadvantages of being from Orange County might preclude a statewide race, such as for U.S. Senate, Nelson said.

Well, if the Republicans love him and the Democrats can live with him, you’d have to be optimistic about Chris Cox’s political future. His interest in a long-term congressional career may depend on to what extent House Republicans can wrest any control from the Democrats. That is, it’s hard to picture Cox spinning his wheels.

“I think if he thought he could make more of a difference and improve the quality of government in the Senate, he’d run for the Senate,” Nelson said. “If he thought he could do that better as president of the Heritage Foundation (a conservative think tank), he’d do that. If he thought he could do it as assistant postmaster, he’d take that job. I think he’s got things he wants to get accomplished out there, and going up some presumed ladder is not relevant to that.”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.