Sanchez Rolling With the Rabbit Punches Over Plans

WASHINGTON —  Conservative Web sites have fused her head with the bodies of Playboy bunnies, Al Gore’s presidential campaign has complained and her Democratic colleagues have rebuked her, publicly and privately.

But Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) apparently is unfazed by the negative attention. In fact, it was the quest for publicity that led the Orange County congresswoman to select the Playboy Mansion as the site for a fund-raising event during next month’s Democratic convention. The proceeds will benefit the Hispanic Unity USA political action committee, which Sanchez chairs.

“We wanted to have a high-profile venue and bring attention to this organization, and it’s working,” said Sarah Anderson, Sanchez’s spokeswoman. Sanchez did not respond to numerous requests for comment.

Vice President Gore, who has been a Sanchez patron and named the relatively junior lawmaker a vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, clearly is not amused.

Overtures urging Sanchez to change the venue have come from Gore’s campaign, convention officials and party officials, according to Democratic sources.

To no avail.

“I know for sure this event is going to be sold out,” Anderson said. “It’s going to be very successful.”

The invitation-only fund-raiser is expected to draw several hundred politicians, convention delegates and luminaries from business and entertainment circles. But the most sought-after invitee will be a no-show.

“We’re not attending, supporting, condoning, participating or giving it our imprimatur in any way, shape or form,” Gore campaign spokesman Chris Lehane said.

Sanchez might believe the old maxim that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but clearly some of her Democratic colleagues disagree.

“This totally contradicts what our party stands for in terms of equal rights, civil rights for all people and respecting the human dignity of every individual,” Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) told National Public Radio. “And that’s why I will not be attending, nor will I be encouraging any of my colleagues to attend. And, in fact, I’ll be discouraging them to attend.”

Kennedy refused to comment further Thursday, saying through a spokesman that Sanchez is aware of what he thinks and that he does not intend to conduct a crusade against her.

But a well-placed Democratic operative said that Sanchez fumed at Kennedy on Wednesday when they saw each other on the floor of the House.

In fact, the situation has spawned a tempest within Democratic and Latino advocacy circles. Many people clearly are upset at Sanchez for putting the party in a bad light yet are unwilling for various reasons to go public with their criticisms. Members of Congress and others noted that they will need to continue to work with Sanchez. Anglos do not want to be viewed as piling on a Latina, and Latinos do not want to publicly attack one of their own.

“The bottom line is [Playboy] is still a magazine that continues to perpetuate viewing women as objects to be ogled,” said a Latina activist at a prominent national Latino organization. The mansion is “not where a prominent Latina should be holding events. I know a lot of people in Washington and many Latina activists feel the same way.”

Several Latino lawmakers, while refusing to comment about Sanchez’s fete, said they had no intention of attending the Aug. 15 event.

Hispanic Unity USA, which raises money to support Latino candidates for public office at all levels, has brought in $500,000 since Sanchez took over 1 1/2 years ago.

Without a doubt, the Playboy Mansion on Charing Cross Road in Los Angeles is an attractive venue for fund-raising. Playboy Enterprises Inc., which has sponsored only a few political fund-raisers but has hosted numerous charity events, is donating its grounds for Sanchez’s fund-raiser, along with an elegant tent equipped with chandeliers.

Playboy spokesman Bill Farley said that people enjoy telling others about their visits to the storied venue. Although the mansion is not the den of decadence its reputation might suggest, he said, visitors clearly delight in being there.

During events at the mansion, many guests can be seen using their cellular phones to call friends, telling them: “You wouldn’t believe where I am,” Farley said.

The secret to a successful fund-raising event is being able to promise contributors a chance to meet a celebrity.

“The mansion itself is the star or celebrity that attracts people up here,” said Richard Rosenzweig, executive vice president of Playboy Enterprises. “I think it has a lot to do with the aura and the mystique. It’s a Shangri-La. It’s been talked about and written about in the media for decades.”

And there are other draws.

Throughout the Sanchez event, “playmates”--who probably will be dressed in cocktail garb rather than bunny suits--will circulate and offer tours of the gorgeous 5 1/2-acre complex, which includes a zoo, aviary and redwood forest, as well as the mansion, built in 14th century Scottish-style with Gothic overtones.

FreeRepublic.com was one of several conservative Web sites that posted Sanchez’s face atop a shapely body in the telltale strapless, high-cut costume of Playboy bunnies.

“I can assure you that it is not the congresswoman,” Anderson said. But she suggested that Sanchez has a healthy sense of humor and will expect constituents to be discerning enough to know the pictures are fake.

In fact, Anderson would not entertain any suggestions that the Playboy Mansion carries an improper message of exploitation of women.

“Playboy has been very supportive of Hispanic Unity’s work,” she said.

Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner donated $1,000 to Sanchez’s campaigns in 1996--when she upset arch-conservative Robert K. Dornan--and this year. Playboy Enterprises has donated $20,000 to the charitable arm of Hispanic Unity, which emphasizes get-out-the-vote efforts, Rosenzweig said.