A behind-the-scenes look at Orange County’s political life

“Hurricane Loretta Blows Through Chicago!” claimed a fax from Orange County Democratic congressional candidate Loretta Sanchez. She and other House candidates dined with House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt at the Democratic National Convention, and Sanchez followed First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on stage before the Hispanic Caucus, receiving a standing ovation.

What Sanchez did not get, however, was a spot on the convention podium, where other Democratic challengers in tighter races were featured, mostly in between prime-time hours. Sanchez admitted finding some who were skeptical about her bid to unseat Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), “because they see it’s Bob Dornan and think he’s pretty tough to beat.”

Refusing to be downgraded, Sanchez made a couple of speeches a day and worked the convention hall sky boxes, where the monied Democrats socialized. By week’s end, Gephardt and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros had promised to campaign for her in Orange County and she had another $100,000 in her campaign pocket, she said.

“Getting six minutes [on the podium] in front of nobody or raising $100,000. Now that’s something to go back home with,” Sanchez said.

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So it wasn’t ‘68: Tim Carpenter, one of Orange County’s most active Democrats, helped organize convention events for Chicago Seven defendant and now California state Sen. Tom Hayden at this year’s Chicago convention. And he had his own little run-in with Chicago police.

Defying orders from Democratic convention managers and threats that he might be arrested, Carpenter made his way into the convention hall Tuesday with two contraband posters.

Surrounded by friends so that his signs could not easily be stripped away by convention managers, Carpenter waved one of his signs after Jesse Jackson’s speech as the whole world watched on national television.

“Jackson Hayden 2000,” the sign read. Later, he unveiled his other poster: “Free Ireland.”

“It wasn’t quite like taking the podium, but it was as much fun,” Carpenter said later.

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Not every dog has its day: Amid the legislation that rolled through the Legislature this year, only Assemblyman Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana) could truly claim a bill that had some bite to it.

Morrissey sponsored a measure making it a felony to kill a police dog or horse serving in the line of duty. But as often happens in the hall of mirrors that is the state Capitol, that seemingly humane effort came back to bite him.

In the final days of the legislative session, Senate Democrats added an amendment ensuring that killing a dog couldn’t be counted as a third strike under the state’s new sentencing rules, which put repeat felons behind bars for life. That ensured the bill’s demise. Gov. Pete Wilson, an ardent backer of last year’s ballyhooed three-strikes law, has vowed to veto bills that exempt any type of felony from counting.

An irate Morrissey has vowed to push his measure anew next year.

“This is the way that the liberal Democrats kill these things,” he said. “It’s frustrating to me. If you steal more than $400, it’s a felony. But if you shoot a police dog that’s worth more than $10,000 in training, it’s nothing.”

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Almost partied out: Labor Day weekend will be celebrated without the county Democratic Party picnic this year. Jeanne Costales, the party’s former vice chairwoman, organized a gathering last year in hopes of making it an annual event, but said she found interest flagging this year.

Party Chairman Jim Toledano said the picnic was lost in convention revelry. “Everybody is recovering,” he said.

But Democrats will gather once more Wednesday evening to honor party stalwarts Richard J. O’Neill and John F. Henning at the second annual Harry S. Truman Awards Dinner at the Anaheim Hilton and Towers.

Politics ’96 appears every Sunday. Items can be mailed to Politics ‘96, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 or faxed to (714) 966-7711.

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Closing the Gender Gap

Democrats have a reputation for reaching out to women more successfully than Republicans. But Orange County’s delegation to the Republican convention in San Diego had a higher percentage of women than the county’s delegation to the Democratic convention in Chicago. How county delegates and alternates split:

REPUBLICANS

Men: 50%

Women: 50%

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DEMOCRATS

Men: 60%

Women: 40%

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Source: Individual political parties; Researched by GEBE MARTINEZ / Los Angeles Times