POLITICS ASIDE -- S.J. Cahn

Things are pretty quiet in Newport-Mesa politics this week. Bob

Dornan has missed, by a mile, his self-imposed deadline for jumping into

a race against Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, good news for Huntington Beach’s

congressman and bad news for people (including journalists) looking

forward to an interesting, possibly bitter, fight.

In Costa Mesa, the most interesting news turns out to be just a rumor

-- and a false one at that -- according to its subject, former Mayor

Sandy Genis.

Word was that Genis was thinking seriously about running for the seat

being vacated by her former colleague, Joe Erickson. Total rubbish, Genis

says. She might one day consider such a bid, but not until she’s old and

gray -- and she isn’t nearly that.

From just about every newsroom account, it’s Costa Mesa’s loss that

Genis isn’t really going to run. She was a straight, outspoken member who

told it like it was -- a characteristic lacking in most politicians and

elected officials. Although it’s impossible to say she would have been

the best candidate without knowing the rest of the field, it is safe to

say she would have brought some needed candor to the debate as Costa Mesa

tries to fill some very big shoes with Erickson leaving.

Genis’ brand of straight-shooting, as unusual as it is on the local

scene, has just about disappeared among our national leaders, as two

recent U.S. Senate votes made clear.

The first, two weeks ago, came on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Largely along party lines, the Senate rejected the treaty, which would

mandate an end to nuclear tests.

In the second, at the end of last week, the Senate passed a ban on

late-term abortions, but not by the two-thirds majority needed to

overturn a promised veto by President Clinton.

Both of these votes were on substantial policies. But you wouldn’t

know it from the rhetoric spewing out of Washington. Instead, these

important -- literally life and death -- issues were immediately turned

into nothing more than politics: Democrats promised to make the nuclear

treaty an issue in next year’s election, and Republicans plan to counter

the Democratic opposition to the abortion ban.

It appeared as if they voted the way they did just to create

election-year issues.

Where is their concern for the changes these two proposals would have

made?

Apparently, they don’t care. From their own words, we can only

conclude that our senators are far less interested in making significant

changes to our laws and culture than they are to simply ensuring their

place on Capitol Hill.

It’s no wonder that third party candidates continue to be popular.

Like Genis, the Pat Buchanan’s, Jesse Ventura’s and Donald Trump’s of the

world will tell it like it is, no matter how it plays in the polls.

Of course, with the exception of Gov. Ventura, they’ve been about as

successful as Genis was when she ran for the Costa Mesa Water Board.

S.J. CAHN is city editor of the Daily Pilot. He can be reached at

(949) 574-4268. His e-mail address is dailypilot@latimes.com.