House Plum for Cox Would Also Promote Home County

Rep. Christopher Cox’s ascension to speaker of the House--no matter how iffy that may seem--would boost Orange County’s national political profile, local observers said Saturday.

“His election would really echo that Orange County is not the redneck conservative place that people think,” said Doy Henley, chairman of the Lincoln Club of Orange County. “We are painted with that reputation, but I’m not sure it’s very accurate.”

The Newport Beach congressman announced Friday evening that he hopes to replace Newt Gingrich, who resigned as the highest-ranking Republican leader in the House of Representatives.

Cox’s personal style--he has been described as more of a consensus-builder than a lightning rod--and his centrist views are in stark contrast to a national image of Orange County as the land of right-wing vitriol.

“It has always gotten a well-deserved reputation for sending some pretty outrageous politicians to Washington,” said Fred Smoller, the chair of the political science department at Chapman University. “Chris Cox would do much to help our reputation on the national scene.”

But will he be plucked from the growing pack of speaker wannabes, headed by Rep. Bob Livingston of Louisiana?

Cox swiftly received the support of an Orange County colleague, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) at a Saturday afternoon press briefing on the Huntington Beach Pier.

Rohrabacher praised Cox as highly intelligent and adept at forging bipartisan support.

“Chris Cox is considered to be one of the brightest people on Capitol Hill. In fact, he probably has a higher IQ than anyone else in Congress,” said Rohrabacher, who met Cox in 1985 when the two worked in the Reagan White House.

He described Cox as “principled without being disagreeable.” And Cox is soft-spoken, in sharp contrast with Gingrich, Rohrabacher said in a soft jab at the outgoing speaker.

“Newt liked to fight a little too much. He was a little too abrasive,” he said. “Because [Cox] is so soft-spoken, it’s going to be hard for Democrats to demonize him.”

In fact, Cox may be able to mend political fences in the next two years by drawing support from some Democrats, Rohrabacher said. He credited Cox for legislation making it harder to file and win securities fraud lawsuits. Although Cox’s bill was vetoed by President Clinton, Congress for the first time overrode a Clinton veto.

But even if Cox gets the job and dazzles Washington, Orange County may not get an immediate public-relations lift.

“The truth is that reputations develop over a long period of time and they change very slowly,” said Larry Thomas, once a press secretary to former Gov. George Deukmejian and now a spokesman for the Irvine Co.

“As Orange County becomes more mixed in its ethnicity, its economic base and its partisan base, you begin to see a change in the face of the delegation we send to Washington,” Thomas said.

Rohrabacher termed Cox’s bid for the speakership “a very bold move,” but added, “This is his time. This is clearly Chris Cox’s time.”

Others said his timing is off.

Thomas described Cox as a “longshot” for the top House position because Livingston, his chief rival so far, has served longer in the House and therefore has more allies.

But “I think Chris is a much more compelling figure than Livingston,” Thomas said.

“Obviously he has not been pursuing this as long as Congressman Livingston and that reduces his chances,” said Jo Ellen Allen, the first vice chair of the Orange County Republican Party.

But Allen said Cox has advantages: he represents a district in the most populous state, he can forge alliances with Democrats and he is viewed as a moderate on some issues.

In a statement released Saturday, Cox said he planned to campaign for the speaker post during the next few days. “Getting the right person in the job matters to all of us. At this point, I am very encouraged,” he said.