He May Be Running Last, but Dornan’s Not Finished

On Elm Street, the political main street for the New Hampshire primary, a steady stream of workers exits the Patrick J. Buchanan headquarters with armloads of campaign yard signs. The well-oiled Bob Dole campaign is humming with efficiency at the nearby Holiday Inn. A flick of the television channel brings the paid political advertising of the Malcolm S. “Steve” Forbes and Lamar Alexander campaigns.

But down the road in Nashua on a chilly afternoon, Orange County Congressman Robert K. Dornan is in his hotel parking lot, checking the battery of the old Cadillac that brought him and his wife, Sallie, from Washington.

For two nights in a row now, Dornan has had to jump-start his car. But the Cadillac is in better shape than his campaign.

After a sputtering start on the bumpy freeway to the White House, the Bob Dornan for President campaign was run off the road long ago by other GOP candidates fueled by big money and cogent messages.

“He had some good ideas, but I didn’t see him as one of the serious people to consider,” said New Hampshire voter Eileen Anderson during a candidates forum sponsored by the state’s Christian Coalition Friday.

Never taken seriously by political pundits or voters in early primary states, the fiery conservative from Garden Grove is not accompanied by a media gaggle to watch his every step and record his every word.

The bare-bones, family-managed Dornan bid raised only $279,402 last year, including $42,000 the candidate lent to his presidential committee, and did not take in enough money in a sufficient number of states to qualify for federal matching funds. Dole, by comparison, raised $24.8 million last year.

At a time when voters are expressing disgust with the mean-spiritedness of career politicians, Dornan is running as a Washington insider, issuing the campaign’s most vitriolic attacks against President Clinton. It’s part of what makes his effort resemble a road show more than a serious venture for the White House, leading to a well-earned identity as the “court jester” of the 1996 GOP presidential campaign.

Curious memorabilia collectors seek his autograph. Voters who know him sit on the edge of their seats waiting for the next “Dornanism;” those who don’t say they walk away entertained.

Sprinkled throughout a speech at a Nashua luncheon last week were vocal imitations of Forbes and former President George Bush, and details of Dornan’s hip replacement surgery. He showed a photo of his newest granddaughter to demonstrate his antiabortion position, mentioned his uncle, Jack Haley, the Tin Man in the “Wizard of Oz,” and bragged that he could have become a wealthy talk show host but chose politics instead.

“I never left my work in Congress. That’s what kept me out of here,” Dornan offered as an explanation for why he is doing poorly in the race. (He did not mention that the front-runner, Dole, also was back in Washington, leading the Senate.)

What Dornan might not have realized was that he was delivering a New Hampshire Republican speech to a mostly Democratic crowd of welfare advocates from other New England states.

“I thought it was a great lounge act,” said Kerrie Jones Clark of Connecticut.

Would she ever vote for him?

“Never,” she responded, “but I would recommend him to Robin Williams.”

Among conservatives, Dornan is not without fans, and his Republican credentials are never doubted. The Christian Coalition rally was more his kind of crowd. They greeted Dornan with an ovation and cheered him when he noted with red-faced passion that House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Dole refused to stand by when Dornan sponsored a resolution to stop the deployment of troops to Bosnia.

Stopping at the Merrimack Restaurant on Elm Street, just below the Buchanan headquarters, the congressman is greeted and photographed by his rival’s campaign workers. He makes his way upstairs, where the Buchanan camp cheers and applauds him as he enters the room. For the moment, work comes to a stop.

What Dornan lacks, however, is voters.

A University of New Hampshire survey released Thursday of 443 likely Republican voters in Tuesday’s primary showed Dornan in last place, with support from only 1% before the Iowa caucuses. He dropped to a rock-bottom 0% support in the two days following the Iowa voting.

The survey also reflected his lack of campaign organization, with 28% of the Republicans stating they had “never heard of” Dornan. This despite his reputation among C-Span viewers as a passionately conservative speaker on the House floor.

As Dornan is learning, voters might like him, but they are also pragmatic.

“I like Bob very much because he’s very direct and he’s an honest candidate,” said Bob Cook, a former television engineer now living in Derry, N.H., who congratulated Dornan for saying on the House floor that Clinton gave “aid and comfort to the enemy” during the Vietnam War. But “I’m undecided at this point,” he said.

Carl W. Toeppel, a Wisconsin voter who said he always dreamed of being in New Hampshire during its first-in-the-nation primary, was giddy with excitement at the thought of meeting Dornan. He had already shaken hands with candidates Dole, Buchanan and Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar. But Toeppel wasn’t ready to cast his ballot for Dornan when he gets back home.

“I feel I would not vote for him because he would not go anyplace. I want my vote to count,” said the retired elementary school principal.

The campaign is not without its high points, however, as was evident at the Christian Coalition event.

Obviously comfortable with this crowd, Dornan revealed some of his fears and sensitivities about being the last-place finisher. He did poorly in last week’s Iowa caucuses, he tried to explain, because he was omitted from the coalition’s voter guide. At his urging, new fliers were printed and distributed in time for the forum in New Hampshire.

“If you want somebody with a real track record, give me a percentage [point],” Dornan pleaded, “and I can keep my pride with all these liberal sages and move on down the stream.”

Last Thursday, Dornan had his final, major opportunity to reach voters across the state during a live television debate featuring all eight recognized candidates. The New Hampshire ballot has a total of 45 presidential candidates, including 22 Republicans.

Maintaining his long-standing position as the GOP “attack dog,” against Clinton, Dornan nevertheless positioned himself as the peacemaker among other warring Republican candidates.

In one exchange, Dole mockingly complained of the photos of him being used in Forbes’ attack ads, and passed along some more attractive snapshots. Dornan took the cue and, without missing a beat, produced his own 8-by-10 glossy of himself with his newest granddaughter.

A post-debate poll of 414 New Hampshire voters sponsored by CNN and other news organizations showed that 7% thought Dornan had won the debate. For the first time in a while, he was not in last place. He beat Illinois businessman Morry Taylor by four points.

During the debate, Dornan was on the receiving end of another candidate’s wit. Taylor was discussing Social Security when Dornan piped in: “I’m on Social Security.” Taylor quipped: “Well, you should retire then.”

That’s exactly what some opponents in Orange County have in mind for Dornan after nine terms in Congress. His Republican primary opponents, Katherine Smith and Felix Rocha, say they respect Dornan’s right to run for the GOP presidential nomination, but they consider him an absentee congressman.

The GOP challengers are not considered formidable, and Dornan has survived claims in previous congressional races that he does not spend enough time in the district.

But he could hurt himself the longer he stays out on the darkened national stage, said Doy Henley, president of the politically influential Lincoln Club of Orange County.

“We’re trying to make changes in Congress, and I think he can do that very nicely,” Henley said. “I think it hurts him the longer he stays out there, doing that, instead of focusing on his congressional seat. I wish he would do that. But you know Bob.”

Deep down, Dornan knows he’s not going anywhere, especially after the last-place finish in Iowa, even behind “no preference.” But he’s having too much fun to quit.

He wants to stay in the race through the March 26 California primary, although he has his congressional reelection campaign to think about, and has begun to consider another presidential bid four years from now. Nevertheless, Dornan professes no worries, even though he has only $22,106 cash on hand in his congressional campaign account.

“I think if [local voters] think you made a good-faith effort and you were doing it for your country, then it’s like any other issue in the campaign: Is Bob Dornan for real or is he doing something bizarre?” Dornan says. “Obviously, since everybody is talking ‘faith, family, freedom,’ I am getting my message over.”

Besides, he adds, the news media would miss him if he left the national campaign.

“If it ends up a Forbes-Dole race,” Dornan says, rolling his eyes, “boy, that will be interesting.”

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