His Behavior Is Subject to Debate

Funny how two years can make a difference in politics.

Two years ago, incumbent 46th District Rep. Robert K. Dornan dodged any debating with unknown Democratic challenger Loretta Sanchez.

Now that she’s the incumbent--and he the Republican challenger--Dornan can hardly wait for the debate to begin.

“We’ll debate her any time, any place,” said Mark Dornan, who calls himself “Bob Dornan’s son/campaign manager, in that order.”

Now it’s Sanchez who is less eager to debate. And with good reason: She’s seen Dornan in action. He doesn’t debate, he steamrolls. Also, Sanchez has had a good earful of listening to Dornan talk about how she stole the election from him in their close race two years ago. A debate might mean just similar rhetoric.

Even so, the public loves to see candidates go head to head. And some political education might actually come from it. So I called the two sides to see if any debate progress had been made.

The night of the June 2 primary, after Dornan handily defeated three Republican opponents, both the Dornan and Sanchez camps said the two would debate at least once before the November election.

But Monday, when I met with Mark Dornan at “Team Dornan” headquarters in Garden Grove, his first words were, “There will be no debate. She’s going to refuse to debate us completely.”

Not true, said Sanchez spokesman Lee Godown. On the other hand, Godown said, “We’ll have to evaluate any invitations one by one. I assume the two candidates will meet down the road. But that debate headline all the media had after the election is a little unfortunate. Because we don’t have anything in mind right now.”

And the two sides haven’t talked to each other about it, either.

In effect, the Sanchez side already has turned down what the public thinks of as a debate. It was a chance for the two candidates to make a joint question-and-answer appearance on cable TV’s OCN.

I can’t imagine anyone agreeing to sit next to a motormouth like Dornan under such loose conditions. Neither could Sanchez.

“We aren’t interested in any format where Dornan can shoot off like a $2 firecracker,” Sanchez’s Godown said.

The Dornan camp has also suggested the ABC-TV show “Politically Incorrect.” That’s a great one for Dornan, because the louder you are, the more air time you get on that show. No thanks, Sanchez has said.

Truth is, Dornan hasn’t gotten high marks from his opponents--or hosts--during past debates.

Two years ago, Dornan, as a six-term congressman seeking reelection, said he wouldn’t debate the unknown Sanchez because she’d once been associated with a Democrat convicted of tax fraud. A debate, he said, “would be beneath the dignity of the office.”

Then he did agree to make a joint appearance with her at an event sponsored by the Vietnamese Political Action Committee. But the night before the event was when Mark Dornan caught Sanchez’s husband, Steve Brixey, pilfering Dornan signs that had just been posted. (Brixey wound up pleading no contest to a misdemeanor.)

Mark Dornan said he advised his father not to debate Sanchez the next day because she didn’t deserve to share a stage with him under those circumstances. Dornan’s wife, Sallie, did appear at the Vietnamese American event, then Dornan showed up to take the stage during its final minutes. His political foes, and a few of his hosts, accused him of grandstanding.

Flash to the spring of 1998, when Dornan had agreed to debate Lisa Hughes, his principal opponent in the June 2 primary. Dornan showed up, then dramatically walked out, claiming the hosts should have invited all four Republican candidates. The hosts, a group called Stand Up America, said Dornan knew ahead of time that it would be only him and Hughes. The other two candidates did not fit the group’s conservative philosophy.

“His feigning outrage was just ridiculous,” Godown said. “He’s demonstrated that he doesn’t follow the rules, so we would have to take that into consideration in any proposed debate.”

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When I first heard about a proposed debate, my first thought was Who could be giving Sanchez such bad political advice? Have you ever caught Dornan on any of the TV talk shows? He’s like a bulldozer with a microphone. Ask him about education issues, and he’s likely to respond: “I’ll give you education. Let’s educate the public about how that election got stolen out from under me.”

Dornan gave us a small hint of what any debate would be like when he gave his acceptance speech the night of June 2. When someone tried to nudge him off the stage, he refused to give up the microphone. He’d worked too hard to get it, he said.

Mark Dornan, who looks a great deal like his father, mentioned some legitimate issues for debate: abortion, political campaign contributions, how much Sanchez has helped minorities while in office. But he also mentioned things that make you fear the debate would turn into a sideshow: Sanchez’s personal wealth and what happened in the election two years ago.

If you’ve seen the pictures of Sanchez that Dornan put out in one of his mailers in 1996--faxed copies that made her appear as a witch--you know he doesn’t fear pulling out all the stops. Those pictures make me suspect what other tricks he might bring up at debate time.

Despite all this, like most people, I’d like to see the two in a legitimate debate, one in which strict ground rules were adhered to by both sides.

“We’ll adjust to her schedule any way she wants,” Mark Dornan said. “But she won’t be able to stand up to questions and answers. She’s already risen to the level of her incompetence. She’s strictly an impostor.”

How’s that for debate rhetoric?

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by call-ing the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com