SANTA ANA : Feisty Democrats Promise Challenge

More than 500 Democrats rallied in the heart of Republican country Sunday, promising to challenge conservatives from City Hall to the White House.

Waving red, white and blue banners and balloons, the rambunctious crowd vowed that Orange County, normally a Republican stronghold, would make the difference in state and national elections with increased Democratic voter registration and door-to-door canvassing.

More than 400 new Democrats were registered in the county over the weekend, for a total of 14,000 since March, officials announced.

Despite a weekend poll that showed President George Bush ahead by 10 points in Orange County, Paul Angelides, state Democratic chairman, praised the volunteers for making inroads into enemy territory.

“I am very glad to be here with the equivalent of the French Resistance,” he told the crowd in the parking lot behind Democratic headquarters on Broadway in Santa Ana. “You’re doing the best work, you’re doing the most work and you’re doing it under the toughest circumstances.”

For more than an hour, speaker after speaker--celebrities, local officeholders and candidates for Congress and the state Assembly--denounced the incumbents for the sorry state of the economy and lauded Democrats as the only realistic chance for change.

Although the rally was intended to showcase local candidates, most speakers--including the local candidates themselves--spoke of national issues and the presidential election.

Led by County Democratic Chairman Howard Adler, the crowd chanted, “It’s time for them to go,” a refrain begun by vice presidential candidate Al Gore at the Democratic National Convention last month.

Robert Banueles, a Santa Ana activist who is challenging Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) in the 46th Congressional District, raised his fist before the chanting crowd and said: “The Santa Ana winds of change will sweep the hatemongers and the woman-bashers out to sea so they will drown in their own deficit.”

Many of those who approached the podium focused on abortion rights, which brought cheers from the audience, where “Keep Abortion Legal” and “Use Your Voice, Vote for Choice” placards were abundant.

Speakers also criticized the Republicans’ perspective on family values as too narrow and discriminating.

“I believe a family can be found in a foxhole or a church pew, a locker room or an AIDS hospice,” said Dana Delaney, star of the “China Beach” TV series, who signed autographs along with Grant Show of “Melrose Place” after the rally. “If life didn’t deal you a good family, then you should be able to go out there and choose another one,” Delaney said.

Following up on Friday’s high-profile endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton by several prominent Republicans, Anita Mangels told the crowd that she and other Orange County Republicans no longer had any reason to support the Bush Administration.

Looking out at a blond toddler perched on a parent’s shoulder with a hand-lettered sign, “One Bush-Wacked Republican,” Mangels told the enthusiastic audience that “the time for partisan politics is past.”

“Although we still consider ourselves Republicans,” she said, “we are Americans first.”