Putting one rumor to rest

An issue, or better said, a rumor I keep hearing is that Rep.

Chris Cox is destined for bigger and better things. And soon.

It’s a topic that comes up unsolicited when talking local politics

lately.

And at first blush, it makes sense. When Cox was being talked

about for a judgeship two years ago, Democrats in the Senate helped

play a role in keeping him in the House. Now, the Republicans are in

control of Senate, as well as the House (albeit just barely).

Still, it’s a topic that, according to folks in Cox’s office,

doesn’t have any bearing in reality.

And -- while we all know that any judgments in politics are doomed

to be wrong -- there certainly don’t seem to be the usual signs of

such movement. Recent events strongly suggest that Newport Beach’s

Congressman isn’t going anywhere soon.

The first is that there isn’t any mention of Cox moving in the

Washington media, as there was right off when he was being mentioned

as a possibility for judge. (He also doesn’t seem to be mentioned

whenever there’s rumor that President Bush will dump Vice President

Dick Cheney as his running mate in 2004.)

The second is that, while Cox did not get the chairmanship of the

House Committee on Government Reform, he was named the head of the

House’s Homeland Security Select Committee.

That almost assuredly will be a high-profile assignment, one that

-- as an aside -- also stands to be fairly challenging. According to

the Hill newspaper, which covers Capitol Hill, the assignment is

being considered a “plumb” one -- rather than a “plum” one -- but one

that could prove tough to handle because the issues it will deal with

will crossover into the territory that a number of other committees

also handle.

“So to be successful, newly appointed chairman Chris Cox

(R-Calif.) will have his book and political smarts on which to rely,”

the paper suggests.

The final reason to think Cox will be staying in his office is

that he’s just hired two new presswomen, Kate Whitman in his

Washington office and Amy Inaba Freyder in his California office.

Whitman, as has been reported, came aboard less than a month ago, a

strange move if Cox is suddenly going to have no need for press

persons.

But as I said, any rush to judgment is probably dangerous. Chances

are, Bush will announce Cox as his special envoy to North Korea

between our Wednesday night press time and this morning.

Starting the Web rolling

Also of note: Since he won his Assembly seat, John Campbell’s

campaign Web site has remained up, with few updates.

Now that he’s announced his intention to run for Ross Johnson’s

state Senate seat, there are changes on the site, johncampbell.org.

It’s officially the John Campbell for Senate site.

So far, though, it only includes the press release from his

announcement earlier this month.

And, after a quick search of the Internet, there does not appear

to be a rival Web site for Assemblyman Ken Maddox, who also announced

his intentions to replace Johnson.

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

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