Rohrabacher Singing the Blues When He Can’t Get Speaker Plugged In

Anyone within earshot of the California Beach Party at the Republican National Convention last week saw Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) singing and dancing with the 1960s duo Jan and Dean. But few heard the patriotic ballad Rohrabacher wrote and called “God Bless.”

The congressman and his good friend, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, former lead guitarist for the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, recorded a demo of the song several months ago, and Rohrabacher hoped to play it at the convention. When that didn’t work out, he borrowed Baxter’s guitar and sang it for friends on the GOP “Victory Express” train that traveled the California coast to San Diego for the convention.

But much to Rohrabacher’s regret, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who also was on the train, didn’t have time to listen to the song.

Too bad, to hear Baxter talk. Rohrabacher, he said, “is a fine songwriter.”

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The issue that wouldn’t die: As much as Republicans tried to downplay the abortion issue during their national convention last week, former Orange County Congressman William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) did his best to remind delegates it is still very much alive in his mind.

Dropped on hotel doorsteps of convention attendees was a fund-raising newsletter from Citizens for a Better America, of which Dannemeyer is the honorary national chairman.

“The issue is not limited to pro-life,” Dannemeyer said in highlighted capital letters. “The issue is whether America will have a political party committed to affirming values God gave man to live by.”

He also accused the U.S. Supreme Court of stealing “the Christian Heritage on which the nation was founded. . . . Those Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court who have participated in this theft of our heritage should be impeached by Congress.”

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A rabbinical connection: It was Orange County GOP Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes who introduced Republican National Chairman Haley Barbour to Rabbi Daniel Lapin, who gave the benediction at the Tuesday night session of the Republican convention in San Diego.

“It’s my single contribution to the convention,” Fuentes said.

Lapin, a native of South Africa, came to the United States in 1974 and was the founding rabbi at the Orthodox Pacific Jewish Center in Venice. Fuentes met Lapin through Michael Lapin of Newport Beach, the rabbi’s cousin.

“I asked Haley if he could speak to the convention and I was as proud as I could be about the intellectual depth of his remarks,” said Fuentes, who attended the convention as an alternate delegate.

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Enemy camp: Loretta Sanchez, the Democrat who is challenging Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) this fall, showed up at the Republican National Convention last week to network with members of the Grand Old Party who support abortion rights.

Sanchez, who hopes to receive funding from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, attended what amounted to a rally against the Republican Party’s proposed constitutional ban on abortion. Dornan, who is vociferously opposed to abortion, has been a target of pro-choice groups for years.

There were some Democrats in the room, but mostly it was Republicans who were saying they do not want to “relinquish their party to zealots.” Speaking to a gathering of some 300 people were a host of Republican luminaries: former President Gerald Ford and his wife, Betty, Gov. Pete Wilson, Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, Sens. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine and Alan Simpson of Wyoming, and several members of the House of Representatives.

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The All-American: During his speech to the California convention delegates Wednesday morning, Jack Kemp frequently interrupted his thoughts to acknowledge members of the audience. California state Treasurer Matt Fong was a favorite, as was Ward Connolly, the African American businessman who is a leading sponsor of the California Civil Rights Initiative on the November ballot.

Also receiving Kemp’s recognition was Rep. Jay C. Kim of Diamond Bar, who received a hand salute from the GOP vice presidential nominee.

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Friend of Bob: At a tribute to Hispanic delegates to the convention, Orange County businesswoman Lucia De Garcia drew out of her campaign bag an autographed photograph of her and GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole taken in Washington a few years back. (He showcased her as a business success story during the negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement, she said.) But the man De Garcia was really hoping to grab at the convention was Kemp, so that he could autograph the other photograph she was carrying--one of De Garcia and Kemp taken during one of his visits to California.

UPCOMING EVENTS

* Today: Reform Party of Greater Orange County campaign fund-raiser, 4-7 p.m., Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Tustin. Televised coverage of national convention. Donations $10 per adult; $5 per child. Information: (714) 731-6369.

* Today: Dinner with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), hosted by the Lincoln Club of Orange County and Young Executives of America; 5:30 p.m. no host reception, 6 p.m. dinner. Four Seasons Hotel, 690 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, $50 per person. Reservations required. Information: (714) 759-5456.

* Saturday: South Orange County Democratic Club pool party and dinner, Laguna Hills, 3 p.m. $10 donation. Information: (714) 770-9709.

* Saturday: Assemblyman Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside) is featured speaker at South Orange County Republican Assembly, 9 a.m., Library Room, Blue Lantern Inn, 34343 Street of the Blue Lantern, Dana Point. Information: Jim Lacy, (714) 248-1154.

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