Rosenberg and Badham also tangled during the show when Rosenberg alleged that a member of Badham's Boosters quit the support club after learning that Badham had allegedly spent some of his campaign money to buy a fur coat for his wife.
Badham called the allegation "a direct personal attack on my wife."
Earlier in the taping, Badham conceded that during his 10 years in Congress he had on several occasions used campaign funds to purchase gowns for his wife for evening functions that they were required to attend. But he said he had never used campaign funds to buy a fur coat, and he called Rosenberg's allegation "bunk."
For the Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday May 21, 1986 Orange County Edition Metro Part 2 Page 3 Column 2 Metro Desk 2 inches; 38 words Type of Material: Correction
Due to an editing error, the name of a candidate in the 40th Congressional District Democratic primary race was misspelled in a headline and photo caption accompanying a story in Tuesday's Orange County edition. The correct spelling of the candidate's name is Art Hoffmann.
Rosenberg said after the show that he could not specifically document the purchase of a fur coat because reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission mention only overall clothing purchases for Badham's wife without being specific. But he said that even though he could not verify the coat purchase, he was justified in mentioning it because he was quoting a former Badham Booster, now a Rosenberg supporter.
Adding to the rancorous tone, Badham campaign coordinator David Vaporean and Rosenberg's campaign manager and brother, Harry Rosenberg, got into a shouting match after the taping, when Vaporean asked Harry Rosenberg whether his brother planned to apologize for Friday night's "spying" incident.
The two argued in close quarters for several minutes about Badham's record and whether Rosenberg or Badham showed proper respect for the congressional office.
Before the candidates left KOCE, Nathan Rosenberg did apologize to Badham for his campaign worker's actions Friday night, Badham said Monday afternoon, but Rosenberg said his campaign had not condoned or authorized any volunteer to "spy."
"He said, 'We had nothing to do with it,' " Badham recounted. However, Badham then claimed that the Rosenberg camp had sent "another one (a spy)" on Sunday evening to a private Badham-for-Congress reception at the Park-Newport apartment complex. Harry Rosenberg countered that the reception was public and that their campaign volunteer had sat next to Badham's wife, Anne, "with a tape recorder in public view. There was no spying. She (the volunteer) was not being covert."
The television show, which will be aired May 29 at 6:30 p.m., was certainly "not dull," KOCE staffers said after it was over. Throughout the show, Peace and Freedom candidate Sears, an accountant from Irvine, stayed out of the cross fire and politely explained his party's desire to end use of nuclear weapons with negotiated settlements between the superpowers.
As the program ended, Sears said the morning's arguments between Republican and Democratic candidates proved that "the big parties are dying out. They don't even matter . . . Badham and Rosenberg are identical on the issues" even if they disagree on Badham's record.
Sears said his was the only party to address the top issue this year--peace.
