Around 900 Republicans gathered last evening at the Hyatt Hotel in Irvine for the 9th Annual Flag Day Fundraising Gala Dinner of the Orange County Republican Party. Every year, this event is a who’s who of the OC political community, with most every prominent Republican official or activist being present. This year was no exception as popular County Party Chairman and former Assembly Republican Leader Scott Baugh presided over a packed house of GOPers who gathered to hear addresses from Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who everyone knows is on the “short list” for McCain’s VP considerations, and GOP Gubernatorial hopeful Dino Rossi, who famously won the Washington State Governor’s race in 2006 only to literally have the race stolen away from him in a third recount. Rossi is running again, and looks to be the favorite as his popularity has grown while the incumbent’s has shrunk.
The tradition of this dinner is that it is impossible to move two feet without running into yet another county leader, and last night was no exception. I will refrain from a “Romper Room” style who’s who of folks that I saw at the dinner, as that would take a long time, and invariably will lead to my skipping important people. I will give a “shout out” to Orange County Register columnist Frank Mickadeit who broke out his Sunday suit and was looking quite spiffy for the affair. His note pad was at hand, so I’m sure we’ll be able to enjoy some of his observations from the evening in one of his columns this coming week.
For the second year running, respected Orange County artist Gary Kutscher, a solid Republican, donated a work of art to the GOP – this year’s work depicted a rendering of Abraham Lincoln’s desk, filled with many “clues” to its owner without being overly overt. Last year, Kutscher donated a similar work themed around the life and career of Ronald Reagan. Both fetched thousands in auction proceeds for the party.
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