Riding the Rails for Votes

ABOARD THE "VICTORY EXPRESS" —  Trying to evoke images of old-time whistle-stop campaigns, Republican leaders traveled down the California coast by train Saturday, stopping in GOP strongholds such as Orange County to tout presumptive GOP nominee Bob Dole’s new running mate, Jack Kemp, and bash President Clinton.

“Our candidate in California is called ‘Tax Cut,’ and their candidate is called ‘Tax Increase,’ ” declared House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who joined the train in San Luis Obispo en route to the GOP national convention in San Diego.

The flag-waving and placard-carrying politicians hoped to inspire party loyalists with track-side rallies along the 15-hour route, which included stops in Fullerton and San Juan Capistrano, and raise $500,000 for Republican campaigns.

Crowds small and large greeted the 11-car train as it made its stops. At some, politicians stopped to give speeches; at others, they just waved from the rear platform.

Organizers said Orange County Republicans mounted the largest rally along the route at the Fullerton Amtrak Station. Police estimated that 350 supporters camped under the hot sun, applauding speakers such as Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), who came clad in a baseball cap and sunglasses and hugged a surfboard emblazoned with the words “Newt” and “The Freedom to Surf.”

“It’s time to retire Bill Clinton,” shouted Royce, unleashing roaring cheers.

Staunch antiabortion activists stood stoically, protesting what they consider Dole’s soft abortion position. And undecided voters came hoping to find confidence in one of the parties.

“I came because I wanted to see the agenda on the Republican side,” said Huu Dinh Vo of Huntington Beach. “I’m not sure if I’m going to vote for Dole, but it will be for someone who shows support for the Vietnamese American community, the economy and welfare programs.”

Also joining the raucous event were about two dozen Democratic demonstrators in Fullerton. Republicans were dogged by their counterparts at virtually every stop.

When the train arrived, Orange County supporters screamed and stomped for their conservative politicians.

California Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) drew more excitement from the crowd when he said, “Orange County is the strongest and the most vocal showing and I thank you for that.”

The train, rented from Amtrak at a cost of $75,000, left before dawn from one of California’s least Republican cities, Oakland. “Why are the Republicans invading our town?” demanded teachers’ union organizer Margaret Shelleda, who carried a sign and chanted with a few dozen other union activists at the Oakland depot.

Among about 350 passengers on the train were George P. Shultz, former secretary of state for President Reagan, and Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Reagan’s United Nations ambassador.

Former Reagan political advisor Edward J. Rollins had been on the passenger list, as had former Rep. Michael Huffington, raising the prospect of open confrontation. In his new book, “Back Rooms and Bare Knuckles,” Rollins, who managed Huffington’s 1994 U.S. Senate race, is brutal in his descriptions of the candidate and his wife.

Rollins was a no-show, however. Huffington boarded in San Luis Obispo.

While Rollins’ book was the stuff of gossip, the talk of the train was Dole’s choice of Kemp as his running mate. The collective prediction--and hope--was that Kemp, with his interest in economic issues and tax reductions, will give the GOP ticket a major boost in California.

Such issues aside, Assemblyman James E. Rogan (R-Glendale) displayed his penchant for political trivia: Who gave the speech at the 1972 Republican convention nominating Richard Nixon’s running mate, Spiro T. Agnew? Answer: a young congressman from Buffalo, N.Y.

Rogan said he bumped into Kemp not long ago and mentioned that 1972 nominating speech.

“ ‘Jim, you have a good memory. Too good,’ ” Rogan quoted Kemp as telling him.

Individual donors paid $1,500 each to gain access to the car reserved for Gingrich and Pringle. Major sponsors paid $25,000 and more, entitling them to even greater access and luxury.

The larger donors included the state’s prison guard union, a liquor industry trade group, oil companies, developers and Miller Brewing, a subsidiary of tobacco giant Philip Morris.

About 34 supporters boarded the train in Fullerton, including Pringle’s wife and children, and Clarisa Everett, a political consultant from Costa Mesa. The 46-year-old delegate gripped her suitcase and stretched her neck as the train whizzed into the station.

“I’m completely, 100% supportive of the Dole-Kemp ticket,” Everett said. “We’re in for a change in the White House.”

The train also stopped in San Juan Capistrano to greet residents, but there was no rally.

In San Luis Obispo, several Democrats donned “Buttman” costumes, a slap at Dole’s recent comments questioning whether nicotine is addictive.

“They are paid. They show up everywhere we go,” said John Herrington, chairman of the California Republican Party.

Herrington expected to bring in as much as $500,000 in donations from the train ride and a beach party today in San Diego. The festivities are to include a volleyball tournament, a sand-castle-building contest and a performance by Jan and Dean.

While the beach party may turn out to be a huge success, the hype for the train ride, which promised “gourmet food [and] hobnobbing with your favorite elected officials,” seemed a bit of an overstatement.

“Gourmet” was a loose description of the eats, and for the first five hours of the ride there were only three elected officials--Pringle, Rogan and Rep. Bill Baker (R-Danville).

Well before sunrise, Pringle gamely extolled the brilliance of Dole’s selection of Kemp, but as 5 a.m. conversations are wont to do, this one hit a lull.

“Dawn on a train, with two members of the press, in San Jose,” Pringle said, a trace of wonder in his voice. “Yes, Mr. Speaker, big-time politics doesn’t get any better than this.”