O.C. Crowd Cheers Dole, Mocks Polls

Thousands of feisty and defiant Republican stalwarts cheered on presidential challenger Bob Dole and running mate Jack Kemp here Monday, booing the media and mocking the dismal predictions of public opinion polls.

“There will be a lot of surprised pundits on the 6th of November,” Dole told the crowd, variously estimated at between 4,000 and 8,000 people, as he spoke against a photo-perfect backdrop of palm trees, blue banners, and flags set up outside the Pond.

The crowd, entertained by a vibrant rock band, booed the press corps at the urging of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), who asked, “Could it be that the people in the media want Bill Clinton reelected?”

Many, including Heidi Davidson, 30, a Huntington Beach homemaker, scoffed at national polls predicting a major defeat for the Republican ticket. Davidson carried a sign: “They haven’t polled me yet, Bob!”

“How many mothers of 3-year-olds do they call?,” she asked, standing with her daughter, Lauren. “I know they haven’t polled me yet or any of my friends. Until they [do], the fight is not over.”

Numerous Republican officeholders shared the stage with Dole and Jack Kemp, introduced by county GOP Chairman Tom Fuentes, who called this the “most Republican county in America.”

Republican strategists said Dole was intent on activating the Republican base in Orange County.

“He wants to get them mad at Clinton and get them to vote. That will help our candidates for Congress and the Assembly and the Senate,” said Allen Hoffenblum, a GOP campaign consultant to a number of Republican legislators. “He is not going to hold a press conference and say he can’t win and go home to Kansas.”

Still, polls show the Dole-Kemp ticket in serious trouble, even in Orange County.

A Times Orange County Poll shows Clinton and Dole in a statistical dead heat, with Dole ahead by 42% to 40%, perhaps a 25,000-vote margin. No Republican has lost Orange County since 1936, when Sen. Alf Landon, also a Kansan, was beaten here by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the historic Depression-era contest.

Even in Lyndon Johnson’s landslide victory in 1964, Republican Barry Goldwater still managed to win by nearly 50,000 votes in Orange County.

Statewide GOP candidates count on heavily Republican Orange County to run up a 300,000-vote margin to offset the heavy tide of Democratic voters in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.

Democratic Party consultants expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of Dole’s four-day blitz of California, which ends today, when the candidate speaks at a breakfast at the Atrium Hotel in Irvine before the World Affairs Council of Orange County.

“I can’t think of any presidential campaign purpose for this trip,” said Larry Levine, a Democratic campaign strategist. “Dole is spending time in a state he cannot win. The only logic is he is going down and trying to do something for the party by energizing turnout for congressional and legislative races.”

Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) praised the Dole visit, which began late Friday and included stops in Fresno, Visalia, Merced, Stockton, San Diego, Sacramento and Orange County.

“Every one of those stops is important in keeping a Republican majority in the Assembly,” said Pringle, who was elected speaker this year by one vote. “Being in California helps. He could be in New Jersey right now. His commitment to California could not be stronger.”

The spirited crowd was estimated at 4,000 by Anaheim police and 8,000 by an official at the Pond, which was rented for the occasion. There were fewer than 20 protesters, all kept 150 yards away.

Laguna Niguel homemaker Jane Luppi took six of her seven children to the rally for a lesson in politics.

“During the debates, [Dole] should have taken off his jacket and showed his [World War II] wounds, and said, ‘This is what I did for my country.’ ” Making reference to the New York Yankees come-from-behind win in the World Series, Luppi said Dole still has a shot of winning because this is the year of the underdog.

“The media is trying to make it seem like the race is all over,” she said. “It’s not over till the ballots are counted.”

Anita Vogelzang, a retired teacher from Orange, doesn’t believe the polls either. But even if they’re true, she said, Dole could still turn the race around. “We’ve got a good week,” she said. “I really think there is going to be an upsurge in the next week. The reality is going to sink in.”

At least one Republican in the crowd was less enthusiastic.

Pat Howell of Anaheim flatly predicted Dole would lose because he hasn’t been tough enough. “This is too little, too late,” she said of his recent attack on Clinton’s character.

Some supporters hoped to tilt the race with divine intervention. “Prayers and fasting,” said Darrell Williams, a massage therapist from Santa Ana.

Johnny Lowe, volunteer for the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, wrote Dole in September urging him to target illegal immigration, something the candidate began doing in mid-October. He carried a copy of the polite, noncommittal response sent by the candidate’s staff.

“He didn’t listen to me,” Lowe said, with an angry edge. “The man should have been talking illegal immigration three months ago. He could have done it. But now it’s almost too late.”

Times correspondent Jeff Kass contributed to this report.

Admission for Dole’s speech today before the World Affairs Council is $40 for nonmembers. For more information, call (714) 363-0735.