Backers Glad Sanchez Spurns Podium Time

Many local Democrats applauded Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) for declining to speak Monday to the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, saying her show of independence will benefit her in the long run.

Sanchez said she backed out of the three-minute speaking slot to quell the impression that she moved a controversial fund-raiser last week from the Playboy Mansion only to regain a speaking role. Party officials had criticized her choice of venue and yanked her off the podium, then relented after she moved the event.

Several Orange County convention delegates said Sanchez made the right choice in passing up the speech.

“She’s a national Latino spokesperson, and this little speaking thing for her is like peanuts,” said Santa Ana attorney John Hanna, a Gore delegate. “She didn’t give up much.”

Sanchez “needed to make a statement” to reassert her independence before her supporters, he said, as well as backers of Hispanic Unity USA, the beneficiary of tonight’s fund-raiser moved to B.B. King’s Blues Club near Universal Studios. Sanchez chairs the political action committee, a bipartisan group that funds voter registration.

Others backed Sanchez’s decision but said it was unfortunate she didn’t have an opportunity to deliver what would have been a worthwhile message--the need to empower the Latino community.

“I think she should have spoken so America can see her face, the face of a proud Latina who doesn’t walk softly but carries a big stick,” delegate Rueben Martinez said.

At a protest later Monday at Sanchez’s office in Garden Grove, members of the Traditional Values Coalition, led by the Rev. Louis Sheldon, condemned Sanchez’s decision to align herself with Playboy.

“The pastors are really upset, even though she changed the venue,” Sheldon said.

On the convention floor, however, the controversy only ignited interest in Sanchez, who was swarmed by reporters and delegates as she made her way through the crowd at 3 p.m.--the same time organizers had told Sanchez she could speak. Interest pivoted to Sanchez from podium speaker Gloria Molina, the Los Angeles County supervisor who earlier had slammed Sanchez for the Playboy event.

“I think most Democrats admire independent thinking and standing up for yourself,” said Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, a longtime friend. “She’s such a hard worker and she believes so strongly in her cause, I’m sure she’ll do fine in the long run.”

Republican William Doherty, who campaigned for Sanchez in 1996 when she beat Rep. Robert K. Dornan, said he was “a thousand percent” in favor of Sanchez. He said the controversy highlighted the hypocrisy of Democratic officials who have taken money from Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

“The Playboy Mansion has hosted Rose Bowl teams and the Blue Angels, and now it’s a den of inequity,” Doherty said.

Sanchez said in an interview that she has been deluged with calls since the controversy surfaced, with “95%” of the people supporting her.

“It’s just been one or two calls saying, ‘It’s your fault, Loretta,’ ” she said. “Everyone else was saying, ‘We’re with you if you want to fight.’ ”

Several delegates said they were angered to learn last week that Sanchez, initially on the speaker’s list, had been removed over the Playboy fund-raiser issue. A few labor organizers discussed making “Free Loretta” buttons for the Orange County delegation; others prepared to bring cowbells and air horns for a protest, reminiscent of the county-led commotion in 1992 when former Gov. Jerry Brown was denied a speaking role at the convention.

“We were going to be on the floor yelling, ‘Let Loretta speak,’ ” Hanna said.