Vice President Pays Visit : Quayle Spikes Talk of Move to County

Vice President Dan Quayle, who made two appearances for the Republican Party in Orange County on Thursday, scotched rumors that he and his wife, Marilyn, are looking for a vacation home in the county.

“We love to be here, but I don’t think it is in the cards right now,� Quayle said, dashing the hopes of the dozens of real estate agents who have called the White House in recent weeks offering to help the Quayles locate a home. But he added: “Orange County is a wonderful place to be. Wonderful weather, wonderful people.�

Quayle made the comments as he arrived at a $500-per-person dinner at a Newport Beach restaurant, the second of two events he attended to help the Orange County and California Republican Party organizations raise money. The first was a $100-per-person cocktail reception for 600 people at the home of Buck and Colleen Johns in Santa Ana Heights, overlooking Upper Newport Bay.

Quayle had joked at the reception, which was held on the Johns tennis court, festooned with American flags and surrounded by colorful bougainvillea bushes and eucalyptus trees, that “Marilyn might think this would do� for a vacation home.

And, in case the Johnses needed to then go house-hunting themselves, Quayle said, “I’ve got every Realtor’s name in Southern California.�

On a more serious note, Quayle, in a 10-minute speech, praised President George Bush for his record during his first seven months in office.

“He has commanded and received the respect of the people of the United States,� Quayle said, noting the continuing strength of the economy and Bush’s efforts to unify NATO. “He has established himself as the premier leader in the world.�

Quayle then called on the well-heeled Republicans who had gathered on the tennis court to carry on with efforts to elect Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) to the governorship next year and work toward “a fair redistricting� to follow the 1990 census.

Quayle was received warmly by the crowd that had nibbled on hors d’oeuvres and sipped white wine while waiting for his arrival.

“He’s very good-looking, this guy,� said Ari Babaknia of Costa Mesa, as Quayle worked the crowd on his way back to the armored limousine waiting to take him to the dinner. “And he’s not dumb!�

The reception and dinner were put together in just two weeks after state Republican Party Chairman Frank Visco, who introduced Quayle at both events, asked the vice president to help with party fund-raising. The state and county parties will split the proceeds--which are expected to top $80,000.

Quayle, who traveled without his wife, interrupted his family vacation in Arizona to attend the reception and dinner in heavily Republican Orange County, which gave the Bush-Quayle ticket a 315,000-vote edge in last fall’s election and helped secure the state’s 47 electoral votes.

The dinner for about 100 people at Five Feet Too restaurant at Newport Center Fashion Island was attended by many of the county’s Republican elite, including moon astronaut Buzz Aldrin and his wife, Lois, of Emerald Bay; Al and Deeann Baldwin of Emerald Bay; state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) and her husband, Garth, and Donna and John Crean of Newport Beach.

Quayle was relaxed and smiling as he talked with the dinner crowd, calling them “all family.� He thanked the guests for “giving Ronald Reagan eight good years.�

“We’re going to have eight good years with George Bush, thanks to you,� Quayle promised.

He stayed around to answer a few questions on subjects ranging from drugs to the Strategic Defense Initiative. But he left, while the dinner guests sang “God Bless America,� after the first course was served. He was expected to spend the night in Los Angeles, and planned to go to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena today to watch Voyager’s fly-by of the planet Neptune.

Quayle arrived in Orange County at 5 p.m. at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and was greeted by three Orange County Republican congressmen--Dana Rohrabacher of Lomita, C. Christopher Cox of Newport Beach and Robert K. Dornan of Garden Grove. About three dozen members of the Orange County Police Explorers, made up of Boy Scouts ages 14 to 21, also met with the vice president.

After a reception held by Cox at the air station, officers of the California Highway Patrol helped guide the 14-car vice presidential motorcade through rush-hour traffic to the Johns home. Although the motorcade forced traffic to slow along some portions of the Santa Ana and San Diego freeways near the El Toro “Y,� a CHP spokesman said traffic problems were no worse than usual.

The Johnses, who have four children, had been preparing their house and grounds for Quayle’s visit since they were asked to be hosts a few weeks ago.

But their efforts to spruce up the house went largely unnoticed by Quayle, who was spirited from a limousine to a motor home parked near the tennis court. The only part of the Johns home that Quayle actually saw was a storage room for yard equipment, which was used as a waiting area before Quayle stepped onto the tennis court to be greeted by the guests.

“We’ve kept our tractor in there for 12 years,� a somewhat embarrassed Colleen Johns said of the storage room. The Johnses freshened up the room with a new coat of paint just for the vice president.

Times staff writer Ted Johnson contributed to this report.