Dornan May Run for President Instead of Seeking Reelection

Conservative Orange County Rep. Robert K. Dornan said Monday that he is leaning against running for reelection next year so he can dedicate all his energies to a possible bid for President in 1996.

Dornan (R-Garden Grove) said he will make a decision on a run for the White House later this year. In the meantime, he has scheduled an appearance next month before the state Republican Party in New Hampshire, site of the presidential campaign’s first primary.

“I’m not kidding myself here,” Dornan said in an interview Monday. “It has to be a serious (effort) and influence the debate in a constructive way without hurting my friends.”

House members have traditionally made obscure presidential candidates, however, and Dornan would enter an emerging field of Republicans filled with well-known names. Those said to be considering the race include former New York Rep. Jack Kemp, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Sens. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) and Phil Gramm (R-Tex.).

“If Bob Dornan does this, he is obviously taking on a prodigious effort,” said Ken Khachigian, a Republican political consultant from San Clemente who worked on the national campaigns of former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. “If Bob were sitting here now, I would say it would not be easy.”

Dornan, an eight-term House incumbent known for his outspoken and hawkish politics, said he has strong friendships with his potential GOP opponents in the presidential race. But he said his primary campaign would stand out because he has been the most aggressive attacker of President Clinton and has the strongest credentials on conservative social issues such as abortion and homosexuality.

“I have the edge; I have a broad outreach on social issues. None of them have been farther out on social issues,” Dornan said, sizing up potential opponents.

Dornan gained national attention during the 1992 presidential campaign when he raised unsubstantiated suspicions about a trip Clinton made to Moscow when he was in college. Dornan also complained about the Democratic candidate’s role in organizing protests against the Vietnam War.

Dornan, who celebrated his 60th birthday Saturday, said he is also confident that he could raise enough money to be competitive. The congressman has compiled a national mailing list that made him one of the top 10 fund-raisers in the House last year and the only one to achieve that with less than 5% of the funds coming from political action committees.