Kovic Encouraged by Comments of Moviegoers : Politics: Vietnam veteran portrayed in "Born on the Fourth of July" gets some glowing endorsements for a possible race against Rep. Robert K. Dornan.

Kovic Encouraged by Comments of Moviegoers : Politics: Vietnam veteran portrayed in “Born on the Fourth of July” gets some glowing endorsements for a possible race against Rep. Robert K. Dornan.

By DAVE LESHER and LISA MASCARO

Jan. 27, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

STANTON — A Vietnam veteran leaving a showing of “Born on the Fourth of July” at a theater here Friday evening was emotionally moved when he was approached in the lobby by Ron Kovic, the paraplegic soldier whose story is told in the movie.

The two embraced; Kovic from his wheelchair, his eyes shut tightly.

“Welcome home,” Kovic said.

“I think anybody who went through that type of struggle can lead by example,” the veteran said. “We need you.”

Kovic was touring Orange County on Friday to explore the question of whether he should run for Congress against Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove). And one of his tests was whether people liked the Hollywood version of his autobiography, which is now a hit movie starring Tom Cruise as Kovic.

In many cases, the responses weren’t just polite, they were gushing.

Kovic, wearing a sweater vest with an American flag pin and blue jeans, approached the first woman to leave the theater, saying:

“This is the story of my life. I’m Ron Kovic. I’m thinking about running for Congress against Robert Dornan. Do you think I should run?”

“Please go against Dornan,” the woman said. “Somebody needs to get out and speak for the common man.”

April Mulvihill, 47, of Westminster said she would work for Kovic’s campaign if he ran. “He gives me hope again, that there’s somebody out here who will speak for us,” she said. “I agree totally with everything he says.”

A Fullerton College student, Matthew Do, 20, said: “According to the movie, he’s really loyal to his country, but I’d have to look at him more (closely)” before supporting his political campaign.

Kovic, who has been encouraged to run by several national Democratic leaders, said he will announce his decision by the end of next month when he returns from a film festival in Berlin.

“It’s very obvious to me that people in this district are very dissatisfied,” Kovic said later in a dinner meeting with Democrats in Stanton. “If I run, it will be a fight to the finish and I will fight from my very heart and soul. I’m a winner.”

Kovic, who lives in Redondo Beach, also said that Democratic House Speaker Thomas Foley encouraged him to run against the conservative Dornan because Dornan “is definitely one of the people who could lead us into another Vietnam.”

But Dornan said Friday from Washington:

“It is absurd to think that somebody would run for Congress based on a paperback book filled with self-pity and immoral excursions and a propaganda movie based on distortions and lies.

“His whole life is so confused that I don’t think he can tell the difference between Hollywood fantasy and reality.”

Kovic and director Oliver Stone are scheduled to appear at UC Irvine on Feb. 7 for a seminar titled “Vietnam: The Making of ‘Born on the Fourth of July.’ ”

Times staff writer Matt Lait contributed to this report.