Itinerary: For the GOP Only

It might be rough being a Republican in L.A. for the next week. The Democrats are descending on downtown, and bringing with them the liberal media horde. What’s a GOP-er to do? Relax. There are still plenty of havens.

Friday

Orange County: two words that send chills up the spines of campaigning Democrats. This is where Ronald Reagan launched his successful presidential campaigns.

Its national reputation as a bastion of conservatism stems, in part, from the political power of the KKK there in the 1920s and of the John Birch Society in the 1950s. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, it was a destination for white-flight refugees. Today the county is more ethnically and racially diverse, but has still voted overwhelmingly Republican since 1940.

Take in a performance at the Orange County Performing Arts Center (600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa), a symbol of O.C.’s no-government attitude: No tax money was spent on the $70.7-million project. Donors were wealthy residents, such as developer Henry T. Segerstrom, who gave the land and $6 million. It may be a little ironic that “Cabaret”--with its frank depiction of drug use and bisexuality--plays this weekend in the center’s Segerstrom Hall (tonight-Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 2 and 8 p.m. $33.50 to $62.50. [714] 740-2000).

Saturday

Go north to the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum (40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley, [800] 410-8354. $3 to $5. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.). The library has vast holdings: nearly 50 million pages of government records, more than a million photos (plus motion pictures), and 100,000-plus gifts from Americans and heads of state. The museum displays such objects as Reagan’s high school yearbook and a nuclear missile deactivated when he and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the 1987 INF Treaty.

Dine at the spot--kind of--where Ronald Reagan proposed to Nancy Davis. Chasen’s (246 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, [310] 858-1200) moved from its original location in 1997, so you can’t sit in booth No. 2, where the Gipper popped the question.

Afterward, stop at the Little Brown Church of the Valley (4418 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City, [818] 761-1127), where the Reagans tied the knot. It’s open 24 hours a day, and a photo of the wedding still hangs in the church office.

Sunday

Another Republican landmark is the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace (18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda, [714] 993-5075. $3.95 to $5.95. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.)--also built and operated without federal money.

America’s 37th president was born Jan. 9, 1913, in a small farmhouse, which has been restored. Most of the library land was originally the Nixon family farm. The site includes a 52,00-square-foot museum with galleries dedicated to Nixon’s early career, his domestic and international policies and, of course, Watergate (you can hear the 1972 “smoking gun” conversation with John Dean). There are also re-creations of the White House’s Lincoln Sitting Room and Nixon’s study from his New Jersey home. The exhibit on view through Sept. 4 is “Barbie as First Lady: Gowns and Patriotic Costumes of America’s Legendary Leading Lady.”

At 5:15 p.m. there will be a screening at the Egyptian (6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, [323] 466-FILM) of “All the President’s Men” (1976), Alan Pakula’s film of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s book. It chronicles the reporters’ investigation of the Watergate break-in and stars Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. After watching, Republicans can rail against the liberal media over coffee.