Bush O.C. Troubles Not Being Felt Financially : Campaign: The Republican ticket is outpacing Clinton-Gore by a nearly 3-1 margin in contributions.

Despite the bad news President Bush has heard from Orange County--negative polls and embarrassing Republican defections to Bill Clinton--the Bush-Quayle ticket still ranks first, by a country mile, with the locals who vote with their wallets.

Bush-Quayle ’92 raised $233,087 in direct contributions from Orange County residents between Jan. 1, 1991 and June 30 of this year, according to a Times computer analysis of records compiled by the Federal Election Commission.

During the same period, the Clinton campaign directly raised a little more than a third of the Bush total--$86,677.

Bush did even better in the sweepstakes for national party money that can be used to assist his reelection effort, both directly and indirectly.

Orange County contributions to the Republican National Committee for direct aid to GOP campaigns, as well as voter registration drives and other party building work, totaled $247,830. The Democratic National Committee collected $41,950.

Comparable Orange County figures for the 1988 campaign were not immediately available. But both Republican and Democratic fund-raisers said local political giving appears to be down because of continuing problems in the local economy, especially in real estate and related industries.

“This has been a very difficult year for everybody,” said Jack Flanigan, a former Irvine Co. executive who in May became co-chair and campaign director of the Bush-Quayle reelection campaign in California.

While Clinton has done well in Orange County, former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart did better in both his 1988 and 1984 campaigns, said local Democratic fund-raiser Bernard Schneider. A Newport Beach attorney, Schneider had supported Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey in his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Two GOP activists--home builder Kathryn Thompson and Western Digital Chairman Roger W. Johnson--formally jumped ship Friday and endorsed Clinton. They were joined by Orange County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder; Robert Nelson, a public relations executive and Republican political consultant; Dana Point Councilwoman Judy Curreri; Harry Jeffrey, president of the local chapter of the California Republican League; Anita Mangels, a board member of the California Abortion Rights Action League PAC, and Del Weber, president of the California Teachers Assn.

“There is no greater value for a family than a sense of security,” Thompson said in announcing her decision. “And there will be precious little economic security to pass around after four more years of a Bush presidency.”

Calling themselves the Independent Americans for New Leadership, the group said that while they are supporting the Clinton-Gore ticket, they are not ready to vote for other candidates on the Democratic ticket and are not considering switching parties.

Local Republican leaders dismissed the group as “fair-weathered” party members and said their support for Clinton was not catastrophic.

“Those people basically have been Republicans of convenience and not of conviction,” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) said as he railed against the group outside their meeting room. “It’s time for them to leave. We will be better off with them gone.”

Thompson gave $428 and Johnson $429, in cash, to Clinton. Each reported to the Federal Election Commission making in-kind contributions which brought total giving to Clinton to $1,000 apiece. Thompson also gave $1,500 to Bush.

Last December, Thompson and Johnson scandalized the local Republican community when they co-hosted a “meet the candidate” breakfast for Clinton, setting off widespread speculation that others in the GOP might for the first time support a Democrat for president. A month later, Thompson and Johnson sat at the head table at a fund-raising luncheon for Clinton in Santa Ana.

Despite the national attention the breakfast drew, “there’s no widespread defection among the (Republican) finance community” in Orange County, said Stuart K. Spencer of Irvine, the longtime GOP political strategist who twice helped put Ronald Reagan in the White House.

“They got a good symbolic hit from that luncheon,” Flanigan said. “The national press focused on this as a huge crack in Bush’s base. (But) it doesn’t appear as though it translated into a specific dollar hit.”

But developer Howard Adler, chairman of the Orange County Democratic Party and the man who helped Clinton raise much of his local money, doesn’t see things quite that way.

“The breakfast that Kathryn Thompson and Roger Johnson held was an incredible crack in the dike,” Adler said.

Even though little Republican money flowed Clinton’s way, Adler said, the suggestion by well-known Republicans that a Democrat might have something important to say about the nation’s problems made Adler’s fund-raising job easier.

Adler cited two $1,000 Clinton donors--property manager Susan L. Naples of Orange and investment manager William F. Podlich of Irvine--as examples of local Democrats who had not previously been active in politics. Both, Adler said, have assumed major roles in helping Clinton raise money locally.

“When you start seeing leaders in the business community saying your candidates have good ideas, and they are at least worth a forum, that helps when you go to your Democratic business leaders in terms of raising money,” Adler said. “It’s reinvigorated us.”

Despite its reputation as a bastion of Republican orthodoxy, Orange County has not been a source of good news for Bush in recent weeks. An independent poll conducted after the Democratic National Convention last month showed the incumbent trailing Clinton 43% to 22% in Orange County.

Although Bush handily bested Clinton’s Orange County fund raising, he did not prevent defections, at least during the primary season.

Bush’s chief Republican challenger, Patrick J. Buchanan, the conservative columnist and television personality, raised $37,350 in Orange County through June 30. Among those who backed him were Caroline Heinz-Youness and her investor father, Clifford Heinz, both of Newport Beach. Each gave Buchanan $1,000, the maximum contribution permitted for a primary campaign. Heinz-Youness’ great-grandfather founded the Heinz food conglomerate.

Of Bush, Heinz-Youness said: “He just basically deserted the whole cause. He’s not an ideologically committed man. He seems to be a fair-weather Republican.” Buchanan, on the other hand, is a “very ideologically inspired man, whether you like him or hate him,” she said.

Another Buchanan backer is Randall D. Hunt of Laguna Beach. “I was a Bush supporter in ‘88, but I’m not a Bush supporter in ’92. Bush has turned out not to be a conservative,” said Hunt, who at 41 is retired from the garment manufacturing business.

Another former Bush supporter is Gene Potter, an electronics engineer from Santa Ana, who gave $1,000 to former Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas when Tsongas was challenging Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Tsongas collected $17,555 from Orange County residents, largely from members of the Greek-American community.

“This was a brand new thing, it was my first adventure into any kind of political thing whatsoever,” Potter said. “It was the first contribution I made to any candidate of any amount.”

A lifelong Republican, Potter said he voted for Bush in 1988 but changed his registration last March, shortly before he wrote the check to Tsongas. The deteriorating economy changed his mind about Bush and drove him into the Tsongas camp, Potter said.

“Bush is the worst president the country has had in 75 years, at least from the financial viewpoint, so something has to be done,” Potter said. He said he will probably support Clinton in November.

Two other early dropouts from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination--Kerrey of Nebraska and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin--also raised money in Orange County. The Kerrey campaign took in $13,000, while Harkin received $6,300.

Between now and November, neither Bush nor Clinton is likely to directly raise substantially more money for their campaign organizations because of federal election laws that strictly limit fund-raising activities after a candidate has accepted federal funds for the general election campaign. That usually occurs shortly after the candidate is officially nominated. Individual contributions are limited to $1,000 per candidate for the primary campaign, and an additional $1,000 for the general election.

Contributors remain free to give to party committees.

It is the economy, more than anything else, that has driven a wedge into Bush’s once solid Orange County support, Republican leaders said.

“The movers and shakers in Orange County Republican circles have been very concerned for the last two years that there hasn’t been a domestic economic plan to meet the needs of the recession,” said Spencer, the GOP strategist.

Several, including Donald L. Bren, who owns most of the Irvine Co., the county’s largest landholder, made their views known during a private meeting with the President last year. But their concerns about Bush never upstaged their strong reservations about Clinton’s planned-economy policies, which would include tax increases on the wealthiest Americans.

“They like Bush if he’d just get connected to the problem,” Spencer said. “It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

GOP Harvest

Orange County residents have contributed nearly $1.5 million to the current national political races. About three-quarters of the money went to President Bush and other GOP office-seekers. How the contributions--made from Jan. 1, 1991, through June 30, 1992, compare:

Presidential Campaigns

Bush: $480,917

Clinton: 128,627

National Parties

GOP: $631,238

Democrats: $170,739

Other candidates

Democrats

Paul Tsongas: $17,555

Sen. Bob Kerrey: 13,000

Sen. Tom Harkin: 6,300

Republican

Patrick J. Buchanan: 37,350

‘Soft Money’ to National Parties

Orange County is a rich source of “soft money” for national GOP organizations. The money may be used for voter registration and other activities, but by federal law may not be directly tied to individual candidates. There is no legal limit on these contributions, popular with businesses because they may not give to individual candidates for federal office.

The contributions of $10,000 or more made to the two parties’ committees made between Jan. 1, 1991, and June 30, 1992:

To Republican Party Committees

The Irvine Co.: $55,000

FHP Inc.: $50,000

Hill Williams Development Corp.: $25,280

Chuck Rheem: $20,000

Western Growers Assn.: $15,000

Carl Karcher Enterprises: $15,000

Bonin Investments: $13,490

J.F. Rems Associates: $10,810

Travcoa: $10,256

To Democratic Party Committees

The Irvine Co.: $30,000

Pacific Mutual Corp.: $10,000

Alpha Beta Co.: $10,000

‘Hard Money’ to National Parties

During the 18-month period ended June 30, 15 individuals contributed at least $15,000 to Republican or Democratic Party committees. This so-called “hard money” can be funneled directly to candidates. The limit for such contributions is $20,000 per year.

How the givers rank:

To National Republican Party Committees*

Dolores M. Milhous: $30,000

Richard A. Nunis: 20,000

Donald H. Williams: 20,000

James S. Cardiges: 15,400

George Argyros: 15,000

Kenneth Y. Kiemm: 15,000

Donald M. Koll: 15,000

Anthony Maglica: 15,000

Claire H. Maglica: 15,000

To National Democratic Party Committees**

Robert Gumbiner: $38,000

Edward T. McGrath: 20,000

Harold C. Price: 20,000

Victoria Stack: 20,000

Mary Newman: 15,000

Mark H. Lee: 15,000

* Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee

** Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Source: Federal Election Commission