Republican Leaders Say the Party’s Still Grand : Politics: Despite highly publicized defections to Clinton camp, stalwarts insist that county GOP ‘is in enormously good shape.’

At first, the rally for First Lady Barbara Bush on Thursday had all the appearances of what has come to be expected in the state’s most Republican county.

The High Society quintet warmed up several hundred supporters with “Thanks for the Memories,” a dance troupe performed to patriotic songs, and a prayer preceded the political speeches.

But there were also some telltale signs that things were not what they used to be in Orange County’s “grand old party.”

With the echoes of unprecedented party defections still ringing in many of his listeners’ ears, and some noisy reminders only moments away, local party Chairman Thomas Fuentes stressed party unity in his opening comments to the assembled faithful.

“It’s a joy to see all of you loyal Republicans with us today,” Fuentes said. He would use the adjective loyal twice more, before reiterating his oft-stated belief that “Orange County remains America’s most Republican county, and committed to four more years” of a Bush Administration.

And then, as the First Lady extolled her husband’s record of appointing women to key positions, Bush supporters began heckling a small group of Republican defectors who showed up carrying “pro-Clinton” placards.

Trouble in Republican paradise?

Absolutely not, Fuentes insisted afterward.

“My point was that by the thousands we have loyal Republicans,” Fuentes said. “And if there’s a defector or two, well, the good Lord even had one who turned from him from among the 12” Apostles.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Roger R. Stanton offered a similar assessment, comparing the party’s troubles to people who “might get a little sniffle once in a while, but they still maintain their sound health.”

The highly publicized defections of eight well-known party activists a week before may have made it appear the party was a little under the weather, but it is “very, very healthy,” Stanton said.

U.S. Sen. John Seymour, a former Anaheim mayor and self-proclaimed “mainstream Republican” who is fighting off a tough election challenge from Democratic candidate Dianne Feinstein, isn’t so sure.

“I would like to see a Republican party in Orange County, across the state, across the nation, that believes in the ‘big tent theory,’ which is to open our party up, bring more people in, remove the contentious issues such as abortion, so that we can become a majority party in Congress and in the state Legislature,” Seymour said. “It’s not happening (now), but I would much rather fight than switch, so I am going to fight to change the party.”

While Seymour shared the stage with Barbara Bush at the rally, he has also maintained ties to some of the moderates who have switched to Clinton, including County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, who co-chaired a fund-raising lunch for him last week, and Western Digital Corp. Chairman Roger Johnson, who will host a dinner and reception for him Monday evening in Laguna Beach.

Fuentes and other party stalwarts have attempted to downplay the party split.

Leaders of the volunteer groups that manned telephone banks and stuffed envelopes for the Bush campaign in 1988 and Gov. Pete Wilson in 1990 are on board again for the November election, Fuentes said.

“The fire is in the hearts of Republicans,” he said. “I think this party is in enormously good shape.”

A Los Angeles Times Poll last week showed Bush with a seven-point lead over Clinton in Orange County--narrow by Orange County standards--but Fuentes said it had to be wrong.

And the much ballyhooed defection to the Clinton camp by a few key Republicans is insignificant, he insisted.

“I see no potency in their presence in the other camp because they have no constituency,” Fuentes said, adding that they have been invisible at the local level where grass-roots activism is key. One of those who is now supporting Clinton, Kathryn Thompson, donated at least $100,000 to Bush during the 1988 campaign.

Republicans also say that if there is growing support for the Democratic presidential ticket, it is not trickling down to the opposition party’s candidates at the lower end of the ballot.

But critics say the Republican leadership is making a mistake by ignoring an apparent erosion of support.

With the departure of Ronald Reagan from the White House, and the collapse of the Soviets’ “evil empire” that gave Republicans a unifying issue during the 1980s, other competing causes like tax increases, gun control and the fundamentalist Christian movement are now tugging at the party faithful, and not always in the same direction. And the one issue that is causing the most dissension between moderate and conservative Republicans is abortion rights.

Among those feeling left out of the “big tent” are voters like Kevin Daehnke, a Santa Ana lawyer who supported the 1988 presidential candidacy of U.S. Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kansas), but has now switched to Clinton. Daehnke said he is not changing parties, but is backing the Democrat because of what he said was Bush’s inability to deal with several issues, including the failing economy.

“I have not changed,” Daehnke said. “I am still a moderate Republican and still have the exact same values that I have always had.”

Political consultant and past Bush supporter Eileen Padberg was heavily criticized by Fuentes and Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) while managing the June primary campaign of Republican abortion rights candidate Judith Ryan against Dornan.

“In California, this right-wing mania that’s going on is scaring off a lot of people who believe in separation of church and state and in a woman’s right to choose,” said Padberg, adding that Bush’s broken promise of “no new taxes” has made it even more difficult for voters like herself to decide whether to support Bush’s reelection.

Ryan lost the primary, and so did other moderates who challenged Orange County conservative legislators in Sacramento and in Washington. Fuentes points to those conservative victories as strong signs that the Republican party is still vibrant.

But the mere fact that Republican incumbents drew strong challenges shows an erosion of what once seemed to be an indivisible Republican party in Orange County, local Democratic Party Chairman Howard Adler said.

And as the Democrats have attempted to move toward the center with their presidential nominee, Adler said, the local Republican leadership has alienated some supporters by publicly insulting those who challenged the incumbents or chose to go with Clinton this election year.

“The old guard in the county is so outraged by that (disloyalty) that they are screaming, yelling and bullying people,” Adler said.

And there are other signs that bode ill for the Republicans in Orange County, Adler said.

While the 615,587 registered Republicans still vastly outnumber the 389,094 registered Democrats, most of the new registrations are falling under the Democratic Party column.

Records in the county registrar of voters shows that since the June primary, the Democrats have signed up 17,070 new voters, while the Republicans have added 12,469 members.

“That does not mean things are going to change overnight in this county,” Adler said. “This is still a Republican county and the Republican establishment is going to do everything (it) can to keep it that way.”