Democrats Taking Aim, See Dornan Dead Ahead

Democrats love to beat on Bob, but the question is: Can they beat him at the polls?

Bob, of course, is Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), a 15-year conservative congressman with a national reputation for acid-tongued attacks against his political enemies.

His newest adversaries--the two Democrats who have lined up so far to take him on in next year’s election--are anything but well-known: Robert John Banuelos, 41, a Santa Ana resident who did little more than place his name on the 1992 ballot but still received 41% of the vote against Dornan; and Mike Farber, 32, a former San Diego County businessman who will announce his candidacy today.

Farber, the California state director of the Concord Coalition--a group advocating reduction of the federal deficit--moved to Santa Ana only last February to run against Dornan.

So why do the Democrats think they can win?

“Frankly, because of his record,” said former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Adler and current president of Beat Bob Inc., a fund-raising committee with the single purpose of defeating Dornan in 1994.

“The voters gave him a message in 1992 when they gave him only 50% of the vote against two (Democratic and Libertarian Party) candidates who together didn’t raise $10,000,” Adler said. “We can raise money to beat him.”

If there is any hope of capturing a congressional seat in conservative Orange County, party activists say, it is in Dornan’s 46th Congressional District, the only one in Orange County where registered Democratic voters outnumbered Republicans.

As of last November, Democrats made up 49% of the registered voters, compared to 42% who declared themselves Republicans. The district covers central Orange County, including parts of Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Anaheim.

County Democratic Chairwoman Dorianne Garcia said she personally prefers that the party’s candidate be a Latino and, despite some skepticism about Banuelos’ chances among party activists, thinks that he has a shot at the seat. But regardless of the party’s choice, the ultimate goal is a Democratic victory, Garcia said.

“I look forward to somebody beating (Dornan). He has overstepped that line of tolerance that people have.”

In a sign of their likely strategy in next year’s campaign, Democrats say Dornan’s ultraconservativism and boisterous style have made him ineffective and out of touch with the district. They point to his attacks against women during his 1992 campaign against a moderate Republican woman, and his vitriolic verbal assaults against those who favor abortion rights.

Dornan could help their cause by deciding not to run.

The congressman said this week that he will decide by Christmas on one of several political options: seeking reelection, beginning a run for his party’s presidential nomination in 1996, going after the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Dianne Feinstein, or giving it all up--for now--for a lucrative broadcasting contract.

Should he try to hold on to his congressional seat, Dornan thinks he can swat away the opposition.

Farber, he predicted, won’t raise enough money to win the Democratic primary. “He’s probably going to end up one of the lesser players,” Dornan said, assuming the field of Democratic contenders grows larger before next June’s primary.

Dornan suggested that any candidate with a Spanish surname will have the best chance of winning the Democratic primary for the district next June.

“I’ll tell you what the Democrats are going to end up with,” he added, “a non-campaigning candidate, winning (the Democratic primary) again just based on his name like Banuelos. I’m not expecting much of a challenge from what’s-his-name again.”

Democrats concede Banuelos isn’t being taken as seriously as Farber because of his inability to raise the money required for a major campaign organization.

During the 1992 election season, Banuelos raised and spent only about $5,000 and rarely campaigned. And when he announced last month that he would again seek the congressional seat, Banuelos said he committed an “oversight” and did not notify the local English-language newspapers.

A volunteer in immigrants rights activities, Banuelos admitted that he is disorganized for now, but even more determined after receiving 41% of the vote last time with little effort.

Banuelos downplayed the importance of a well-financed campaign.

“You cannot buy the vote any longer,” he said. “People are going to look for someone who is involved in the community. It takes time (to build support). You work in the community and the word gets around. I’m taking the hard way because I don’t have money.”

Recently laid off from his job with the city of Santa Ana as a community services representative, Banuelos is now working as a volunteer for the immigrant rights group Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, administering citizenship exams.

He also hopes to mobilize the support of Latino voters who generally vote at lower rates than other ethnic groups. A Los Angeles Times computer analysis showed that 19% of the district’s registered voters in the 1992 election had Latino surnames.

Unlike Banuelos, Farber already has a professional campaign team in place and is considered a serious candidate with the ability to raise campaign funds. While he has raised only $20,000 so far, Farber hopes to establish a campaign budget of at least $750,000, he said.

In last year’s election, Farber ran against Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) in one of the state’s most conservative congressional districts and garnered 29% of the vote.

He campaigned as a fiscal conservative and is a Catholic who supports abortion rights.

Farber said he became a candidate in 1992 to promote his positions and to gain political experience, since his land development and real estate brokerage firm had tumbled during the state’s economic recession.

In the race against Packard, Farber received the backing of Ross Perot’s United We Stand America organization. He also developed contacts that led to his position as state director of the Concord Coalition, the deficit reduction group founded by former U.S. Sens. Paul Tsongas (D-Mass.) and Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.).

Farber acknowledges he may be labeled a “carpetbagger” by some critics, but he points out that Dornan himself moved into the Orange County district from Santa Monica to run for the congressional seat in 1984. Even though Farber just moved into the area last February, he claims to be better in touch with the concerns of the voters than Dornan.

“What has Bob Dornan done? He has not, cannot and won’t make a difference,” Farber said.

Farber criticizes Dornan for spending less time in Orange County than in New Hampshire, where the congressman is testing the waters in the presidential race, and he says Dornan has done little to help create jobs or reduce crime in a district that needs attention in those areas.

Garcia, the local head of the Democratic Party, will make a “Beat Bob” speech at Farber’s headquarters when he kicks off his campaign today in Santa Ana. But she said Farber is not necessarily the Democrats’ “anointed candidate” in the race.

Adler agrees, even though he has lent his name to Farber’s finance committee.

“I think there are probably two or three people that I am attempting to encourage to look at the race,” Adler said, adding that if other “viable” Democratic candidates emerged, he would also lend them money and support. He refused to name any other potential challengers.

Farber “is the kind of person we can support. He’s the kind of person who is going to be able to appeal to a lot of people,” Adler said.

Meanwhile, as potential candidates decide whether to join the race, Adler said the “Beat Bob Inc.” committee is moving forward with its national fund-raising campaign, which has a goal of $300,000. Contributions will be channeled to the winner of the Democratic primary.

The organization has raised $40,000 to date. Most of that amount went toward the centerpiece of the campaign--a six-minute videotape entitled “Dornan: In His Own Words,” showing a series of the combative congressman’s more inflammatory quotes.

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Times staff writer Dave Lesher contributed to this story.