Offshore drilling protests to greet Cheney in California today

Vice President Dick Cheney is hitting the road today, stumping for Republican candidates across the country in places where Republicans will still pay to see him.

It may be a commentary on how far left the country has gone, but when he lands in California's Nixon country, liberals from historically conservative Orange County are planning a protest over offshore oil drilling.

"You can tell Dick Cheney that the California coast is not for sale," said Melahat Rafiei, executive director of the Democratic Party of Orange County. In an e-mail, she urged supporters to gather at the Trestles Beach parking lot at 3 p.m. with signs and raised voices to "protect our precious coastline."

From there, protesters plan to march to the site of Cheney's fundraiser at President Nixon's old Western White House in San Clemente, now called Casa Pacifica and owned by Gavin Herbert, founder and former CEO of Allergan, Inc., a pharmaceutical and medical device company based in Irvine.

Cheney is doing a private fundraiser there for Ken Calvert, the eight-term reliably Republican congressman from Corona known as one of the kings of earmarking on Capitol Hill and a sponsor of offshore oil drilling.

In an e-mail, Henry Vandermeir, president of the California Democratic Council commented further:

We are planning a simple peaceful march to draw attention to Vice President Dick Cheney and Rep. Ken Calvert's ties to the big oil companies and continued support of offshore drilling -- despite the fact that this will have no immediate effect on lowering gas prices or reducing our dependency on foreign oil.

It's ironic that they chose San Clemente as the location for their
fundraiser as it is one of the most beautiful surfing locations in the
country and will be adversely affected by Calvert's support of offshore
drilling along its beaches.

While in California, the vice president also plans to stop at Camp Pendleton for a briefing by military officials. That official business would presumably cover the costs of flying out to California from Colorado, where Cheney is raising money for Rep. Marilyn Musgrave. According to the Coloradoan, Musgrave is all about energy these days -- she was part of the Republican floor protests on energy last week and plans to visit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge next week.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press