Clinton Scandal Looms Over 27th District Race

Like the mountains framing Glendale and Pasadena, the scandal surrounding President Clinton towers in the background of the congressional battle over who will represent those communities.

Democratic challenger Barry Gordon, gambling on a voter backlash against the Republicans, has attacked GOP incumbent Rep. James Rogan of Glendale for his high-profile role in Congress’ decision to launch an impeachment inquiry.

“Absolutely it’s to my advantage,” said Gordon, a lawyer and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. “There is a perception of unfairness that occurred during this process. If you talk to the people in the district, they did not want to see an open-ended inquiry.”

Rogan has avoided a campaign brawl over the Clinton ordeal, promising impartiality and fairness. At the same time, he warns that electing Gordon and a Democratic Congress “would give [Clinton] a blank check to run wild, and we cannot allow our country to go backward.”

Even without the chatter over Clinton, the fight over the 27th Congressional District, which includes Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and the smaller communities nestled between the Verdugo and San Gabriel mountains, promised to be one of the top contests in Southern California in the Nov. 3 election.

From the outset, Democratic leaders said a Gordon victory is within reach, especially in a district with a growing Democratic lead in voter registration and a freshman Republican incumbent who won with only 50% of the vote in 1996.

The Republicans see little to fear, however. Rogan, an affable family man and rising star in the party, enjoyed a 13-point lead in a recent poll and had four times as much cash in his campaign account as of mid-October.

The direct confrontation has not materialized, mainly because Rogan has been in session in Washington. There has been only one debate this fall--a 30-minute radio event earlier this month.

While campaigning, Rogan has emphasized the accomplishments of the Republican Congress--most notably, delivering a balanced budget for the first time in three decades, while at the same time providing tax cuts for families.

“The last time Barry’s party controlled Congress with President Clinton, they gave us the largest tax increase in American history and they attempted to socialize our health-care policies,” Rogan said. “We not only turned the deficit into a surplus, we did it while preserving Medicare, we held the line on federal spending, we cut welfare rolls 30% and we’ve moved those folk into jobs.”

Gordon said Rogan portrays himself as a moderate at home, but his voting record in Congress shows he is closely allied with Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the GOP’s right wing.

Gordon, in an aggressive direct mail campaign, criticized Rogan for taking an anti-abortion position, and for opposing an assault weapons ban--highlighting that Rogan has received the endorsement and more than $10,000 in campaign contributions from the National Rifle Assn.

The Democrat also ripped Rogan for pocketing more than $15,000 in contributions from the tobacco industry during his campaigns for Congress and the state Legislature, and for a comment the Republican made likening the health risks of cigarettes to those of skateboards and candy bars.

“On issue after issue, he is not in sync with the voters,” Gordon said. “That’s what this race is about.”

Both candidates agree that the national education policy needs to be reformed, but each clings to his own party’s proposed solutions and strongly opposes those offered by his opponent.

Rogan supports creating taxpayer vouchers to allow children to attend private schools, and believes teacher quality can be improved by introducing merit-based pay and ending tenure. While serving as majority leader in the state Assembly, Rogan supported legislation to dramatically reduce class size in California. He also accuses his Democratic rival of being in the pocket of the teachers unions.

Gordon said the country needs to adopt national testing, so parents have some way to gauge the quality of the education in their local schools, and to provide more federal money to local school districts to refurbish deteriorating classroom buildings.

This is Gordon’s second shot at the House, coming two years after he narrowly lost the Democratic nomination.

Gordon was a regular character actor on such television shows as “The New Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Fish” and “Archie Bunker’s Place.” Gordon also is the voice of Woodsy Owl, the Nestle’s Quick Bunny and Donatello in the cartoon series “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” At age 14, Gordon was nominated for a Tony award for his role in the Broadway play “A Thousand Clowns.” While president of the Screen Actors Guild, Gordon helped draft California’s anti-stalker law.

Rogan was a municipal judge, and was elected to the state Assembly in 1993 and then to Congress in 1996. His campaign brochures tell of his humble beginnings--raised on welfare and the son of a convicted felon and alcoholic--and how devoted he is to preserving the public school system that helped him build a better life for himself.

The former prosecutor is the only Republican to simultaneously sit on the prestigious Commerce and Judiciary committees.

Rogan voted in favor of the impeachment inquiry, and also advised Gingrich on how the House should act on independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr’s report accusing the president of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Rogan said Congress has an obligation to investigate the allegations, but also the House must begin with a “presumption of innocence” for Clinton.

“You wouldn’t know from watching the evening news [what] Congress is doing other than this,” Rogan said. “This is one of the minimal things that we’ve been dealing with. It’s consumed just a small portion of my time.”

Gordon has attacked Rogan for being preoccupied with Clinton’s downfall, saying the Republican has become a Washington “media darling” by appearing on MSNBC, Sunday-morning news shows and other media outlets to discuss the charges against Clinton

“This has been a distraction not only for America, but for Congress and Rogan,” Gordon said. “Frankly, people are saying, while he is doing all this, what about a patient’s bill of rights, what about tobacco legislation, what about campaign finance reform?”

Gordon called Clinton’s illicit affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and subsequent lies “reprehensible” and worthy of congressional censure, but not impeachment.

A decade ago, Gordon’s aggressive attack would have been political suicide in a bedrock Republican district. But the region’s political leanings have changed, with the percentage of Republican registered voters dipping from 43% to 39% since 1994, while Democrats have remained at a steady 44% throughout.

Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have a solid claim to the region. Clinton won the district in 1992 and 1996, yet its voters also sent Republican Congressman Carlos Moorhead to Washington 11 times before electing Rogan in 1996.

“We feel very, very comfortable about Jim’s reelection. We did a survey about two weeks ago that showed him up double-digits,” said Todd Harris, spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee, which assists GOP congressional candidates. “Most people in the party view Jim as one of our true rising stars.”

However the GOP committee’s rival, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said a poll conducted in early October showed Rogan was supported by less than 50% of the voters in the district--which makes him vulnerable. Rogan’s support led Gordon’s 46% to 33%, with 20% of the voters undecided.

“Democrats and voters have the same priorities this year, and that’s reflected in the GOP’s rapidly vanishing support at home,” said Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas), the Democratic committee’s chairman.