Rep. Rogan Assailed Over Impeachment Probe Role

Like the mountains framing Glendale and Pasadena, the scandal surrounding President Clinton towers in the background of the congressional battle over who will represent those communities.

Democratic challenger Barry Gordon, gambling on a voter backlash against the Republicans, has attacked GOP incumbent Rep. James Rogan of Glendale for his high-profile role in Congress’ decision to launch an impeachment inquiry.

“Absolutely it’s to my advantage,” said Gordon, a lawyer and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. “There is a perception of unfairness that occurred during this process. If you talk to the people in the district, they did not want to see an open-ended inquiry.”

Rogan has avoided a campaign brawl over the Clinton ordeal, promising impartiality and fairness. At the same time, the lawmaker warns that electing Gordon and a Democratic Congress “would give [Clinton] a blank check to run wild, and we cannot allow our country to go backward.”

Even without the chatter over Clinton, the fight in the 27th Congressional District, which includes Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and smaller communities nestled between the Verdugo and San Gabriel mountains, promised to be one of the top contests in Southern California in the Nov. 3 election.

From the outset, Democratic leaders said a Gordon victory was within reach, especially in a district with a growing Democratic lead in voter registration and a freshman GOP incumbent who won with only 50% of the vote in 1996.

The Republicans see little to fear, however. Rogan, an affable family man and rising star in the party, enjoyed a 13-point lead in a recent poll and had four times as much cash in his campaign account as of mid-October.

Rogan has emphasized what he sees as the accomplishments of the Republican Congress--most notably, delivering a balanced budget for the first time in three decades, while at the same time providing tax cuts for families.

“The last time Barry’s party controlled Congress with President Clinton, they gave us the largest tax increase in American history and they attempted to socialize our health care policies,” Rogan said. “We not only turned the deficit into a surplus, we did it while preserving Medicare, we held the line on federal spending, we cut welfare rolls 30% and we’ve moved those folk into jobs.”

Gordon said that Rogan portrays himself as a moderate at home but that his voting record in Congress shows he is closely allied with Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the GOP’s right wing.

Gordon, in a direct mail campaign, criticized Rogan for taking an antiabortion position and opposing an assault weapons ban--emphasizing that Rogan has received the endorsement of, and more than $10,000 in campaign donations from, the National Rifle Assn. The Democrat also ripped Rogan for accepting more than $15,000 in contributions from the tobacco industry during his career.

“On issue after issue, he is not in sync with the voters,” Gordon said.

Rogan supports creation of government vouchers that can be used on private education and believes teacher quality can be improved by introducing merit-based pay and ending tenure. While serving as majority leader in the state Assembly, Rogan supported legislation to dramatically reduce class size in California. He also accuses his Democratic rival of being in the pocket of the teachers unions.

Gordon said the country needs to adopt national testing, so parents have some way to gauge the quality of the education in their local schools, and to provide more federal money to refurbish deteriorating classroom buildings.

This is Gordon’s second shot at the House, coming two years after he narrowly lost the Democratic nomination.

Gordon was a regular character actor on such television shows as “The New Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Fish” and “Archie Bunker’s Place.” At age 14, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the play “A Thousand Clowns.”

Rogan was a municipal judge, and was elected to the Assembly in 1993 and to Congress in 1996. His campaign brochures tell of his humble beginnings--raised on welfare, the son of a convicted felon and alcoholic--and how devoted he is to preserving the public school system that helped him build a better life for himself.

He voted in favor of the impeachment inquiry and advised Gingrich on how the House should act on independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr’s report.

Congress has an obligation to examine the allegations, but the House must begin with a “presumption of innocence” for Clinton, Rogan said. Gordon has attacked his opponent as being preoccupied with Clinton’s downfall, saying the congressman has become a Washington “media darling” by appearing on MSNBC, Sunday morning news shows and other media outlets to discuss the charges against Clinton.

Gordon called Clinton’s affair with Monica S. Lewinsky and subsequent lies “reprehensible” and worthy of congressional censure, but not impeachment.

A decade ago, Gordon’s aggressive attack would have been political suicide in a bedrock Republican district. But the region’s political leanings have changed, with the percentage of GOP registered voters dipping from 43% to 39% since 1994, while Democrats have remained at a steady 44%.