Dornan-Sanchez II: At Least Keep the Gloves On

When last seen in the ring, Mike Tyson was spitting out a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear. Now a year later, Tyson is about to ask for reinstatement of his boxing license that was suspended after the fight. If reinstated, Tyson will no doubt want to fight Holyfield again. As much as I love boxing, I haven’t missed Tyson a bit. All I got for my money last time was great hype and not much fight. All of which brings me to this fall’s Bob Dornan-Loretta Sanchez 46th Congressional District race.

Dornan-Sanchez II is the kind of potential slugfest that once would have stirred the political animal in me. In the past, you may not have liked B-1 Bob Dornan but you always paid to watch his fights. This time around, Dornan-Sanchez leaves me cold. It’s a fight we don’t need.

Unfortunately, all of Orange County is doomed to watch the rematch. Ever since Dornan won the Republican nomination last month, he’s been talking revenge and redemption. You’d think Don King was promoting him.

Accordingly, the national press will come to town in the months ahead and focus on Dornan’s bombast and never-proved charges that illegal Latino voters cost him the 1996 election. We locals will get to relive the unpleasantness again, much as we did through all of 1997 until both criminal and House of Representatives’ investigations fizzled into nothingness.

The annoying part is that a Dornan-Sanchez race could give us an intriguing matchup between two philosophical and generational opposites in a district that’s inherently interesting because it’s so diverse.

“I dread the thought of it becoming a racial campaign,” says a local city council member who lives in the 46th District. The council member, however, isn’t overly optimistic that the campaign won’t have racial overtones or, in some other way, become personal.

I promised the official anonymity, in exchange for an assessment of what the candidates could talk about between now and November. The member acknowledged past political support for Dornan but a wavering of that support this time around.

“Education is No. 1 on everyone’s list,” the council member told me over an iced tea. “That’s something we’re all concerned about. And reducing crime. Affordable housing is another issue that people care about. Another one of the big complaints is the IRS and doing something to reformulate their policies and attitudes.”

Then there are the bread-and-butter economic issues that historically have affected the blue-collar 46th District, such as the possible loss of manufacturing jobs or corporate relocations. Add to that the ever-present issue of immigrants’ rights, the council member said, and you have the makings of a campaign with no dearth of issues.

Any one or two of those issues, if honestly debated, could make for a lively and informative congressional campaign. Imagine a series of debates in which the two candidates actually laid out their vision for this district, which represents a fascinating mix of young immigrant families and senior citizens on fixed incomes--not to mention the mix of Latinos, whites and Vietnamese.

In an ideal political world, discussions on those things could happen. But my council contact wasn’t optimistic that it would. Possibly working against Dornan, the member said, is that 1998 is shaping up as a rather “quiet” election year. “I think people are relatively satisfied with the way their lives are going. Unemployment is way down, and the issues they’re concerned about maybe are things not handled at the federal level,” such as potholes and local school policies.

I asked the councilman for a best-case scenario in Dornan-Sanchez II. “Best-case is that they concentrate on positive things that will benefit the community. What does each one bring to the table, as far as experience and being able to benefit the constituents?”

If we didn’t know the history of these two combatants, there’d be no reason why the campaign couldn’t be conducted on a higher plane. Dornan has a nine-term record he should be willing to stand on and, in fact, was known over the years for “delivering” to his district. Likewise, Sanchez has a House term under her belt and has built some cachet in the district.

In other words, this race doesn’t have to get ugly. No one needs to bite anyone’s ear off.

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com