The other names in the race

A reader recently sent in a note pointing out that the Daily Pilot

routinely publishes contact information for elected officials --

a.k.a. incumbents -- and that it would be useful to also print

information for the other candidates.

Her thought hits right at the heart of what must be the single

greatest truth in politics: Incumbents have all the advantages.

While this, I think, is less true at the local level (an incumbent

in both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa failed to win reelection in

2000), the evidence is overwhelming that once politicians get to the

state and national level, they essentially have jobs until they want

to give them up. (Strangely, once you get to the highest office,

president, history looks more like that of city council candidates:

Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George Bush all lost reelection bids in

the past 30 years, while Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill

Clinton managed to keep their seat.)

The last two elections for the House show that 392 of 399 House

incumbents, more than 98%, were reelected in 2000, according to

watchdog group Common Cause. Two years earlier, 395 of 401

incumbents, again more than 98%, were reelected.

The reasons for this success are myriad: Incumbents raise more

money (a 4 to 1 advantage in House races in 2000, a 2 to 1 in the

Senate). They have name recognition. And they can easily command

“free advertising” in the media. If Rep. Chris Cox gets involved in a

debate about our government’s policy on Iraq, it will be news in his

home district. The power of incumbency goes well beyond just dollars.

How to balance the newsworthiness of elected officials with their

opponents is a difficult question for journalists, who invariably

have to draw a hard, fast line when covering candidates for one

simple reason: It is impossible, and simply unwise, to give all the

candidates equal coverage. Some simply are not going to win. In the

2000 presidential race, for instance, there were the two main party

candidates, George W. Bush and Al Gore. Then there were 10 major

third-party candidates, including Ralph Nader, Pat Buchanan and Harry

Browne.

Beyond that? Three independent candidates who were on at least

some state ballots and another 60 write-in candidates, plus brief and

aborted runs by famous names, possibly the most legitimate of which

was New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith.

Most of those names you never heard because they weren’t deemed

serious contenders. Of course, lacking any media coverage, they were

relegated to also-ran status immediately.

Given that balancing act, how much information does this reader

want? Here, anyway, is a contact list, based on information from the

secretary of State, of the main challengers to Reps. Cox and Dana

Rohrabacher and Assemblymen John Campbell and Ken Maddox.

For Cox’s seat, the two main opponents are Democrat John Graham,

who ran in 2000, and Joe Cobb, a Libertarian. Graham’s Web site is

www.johngraham4congress.com and his mailing address is John Graham

for Congress, 4521 Campus Drive, PMB331, Irvine, CA 92612. Graham

teaches at UC Irvine’s Graduate School of Management. Cobb’s e-mail

is joe@joecobb.com. He is listed as a college economics teacher.

Rohrabacher’s opponents include Gerrie Schipske, who is running

the most high-profile challenge in our area. The Democratic nurse

narrowly lost a bid in 2000 for a now-redrawn House seat based in

Long Beach. Her mailing address is Gerrie Schipske for Congress, P.O.

Box 50038, Long Beach, CA 90815. She is online at

www.schipske4congress.org. His Libertarian opponent is Keith Gann,

whose address is right here in Costa Mesa at 270 S. Bristol St., No.

101-221, CA 92626. His e-mail address is keithgann@yahoo.com, and he

lists himself as an engineer/project manager.

The opponents of Maddox, whose district will include parts of

Costa Mesa after the November election, include Democrat Al Snook, a

small-businessman with the most interesting e-mail address:

bigalsnook@aol.com. His address is 11781 Easy Way, Garden Grove, CA

92840. The Libertarian in the race is Doug Scribner, a leader of the

party in Orange County. His address is 321 Avocado St., Unit P, Costa

Mesa, CA 92627, and he can be reached via e-mail at doug@123abc.net.

Finally, Campbell will be facing two challengers. Democrat John

Kane is a computer programmer. His e-mail is jkane@home.com, and his

address is 21282 Avenida Nubes, Lake Forest, CA 92630. Paul Studier,

a retired computer engineer, is the Libertarian candidate. He can be

reached at 24302 Ursula Circle, Lake Forest, CA 92630 or online at

www.paulstudier.com. His e-mail is Assembly@paulstudier.com.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He can be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at steven.cahn@latimes.com.