Congressman’s brain wins bronze

Alicia Robinson

If they gave Olympic medals for smarts, Rep. Chris Cox would have won

the bronze this week, according to an annual survey by Washingtonian

magazine.

Cox ranked as the third-brainiest member of Congress, trailing

California Rep. Bill Thomas and Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank.

The magazine surveys staff members on Capitol Hill every year to

determine who’s a hard worker, who’s a windbag, and who looks good in

a bathing suit, among other things. Sen. Barbara Boxer was also named

in the survey, but it’s nothing she’ll want to brag about -- she

earned second among senators who are “no rocket scientist.”

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher didn’t get a mention, possibly because there

were no surfing-related categories.

Representing Newport-Mesa at the national convention

The several Orange County Republicans who will serve as delegates

at their party’s national convention, which begins Sunday in New York

City, will include two Newport Beach women.

Elaine Park, president of the Newport Harbor Republican Women, and

Jo Ellen Allen, a member of the Orange County GOP’s central

committee, will be delegates for the 48th Congressional District.

Both women said they’re excited about the event even though the

party’s presidential nominee will be no surprise.

“Basically, what we always do at conventions like that is to

network,” said Allen, who served as a delegate from San Diego in

1996. “The larger point is it’s the culmination of a national

process, where every state has its own method of selecting who they

want to be the standard bearer of the party.”

The delegates attend meetings every day and evening, but Park is

most looking forward to “seeing and hearing our wonderful president,

who is such a great leader,” she said.

The convention has traditionally been the kickoff of more

hard-core campaigning, but this year things started much earlier

because the Democratic nominee emerged early. Allen said a lengthy

election season can make people sick of all things political, but she

thinks they’ll pay attention to the Republican convention.

She would like to see a shift of focus away from what the

candidates did or didn’t do 30 years ago, she said.

“I think most people would really like to talk about what’s going

to happen in the next five years,” Allen said.

Assembly term limits

bring bad with the good

When the state legislative session ends in the next few days, term

limits will sweep out a number of experienced lawmakers, including

Sen. Ross Johnson, who served more than 16 years in the Assembly and

has been in the Senate since 1995.

“Everyone up here on both sides of the aisle respects Ross Johnson

and his thorough understanding of the way this sausage factory

works,” said 70th District Assemblyman John Campbell, whose bid to

replace Johnson in November is considered a fait accompli. “No

question that Ross is a loss.”

Campbell, with two of the three Assembly terms allowed under his

belt, is not a victim of term limits and said he believes in them.

But there are two sides to the coin, he said. Limiting a person’s

service makes them less likely to be susceptible to special

interests, but it also means they have no institutional memory of

laws that have or haven’t worked, he said.

Both Campbell’s seat and that of his colleague, 68th District

Assemblyman Ken Maddox, will be filled by newcomers in November.

Maddox is termed out and lost a primary bid for Johnson’s Senate seat

to Campbell.

Giving old legislators the heave-ho isn’t necessarily a bad thing,

because it can spread that experience to other areas of public life,

UC Irvine political science professor Mark Petracca said. The best

local example is Curt Pringle, who probably wouldn’t be mayor of

Santa Ana if he hadn’t been termed out of the legislature, Petracca

said.

And another thing: There’s scant proof that experience makes

better legislators, he said.

“Show me the evidence that longevity results in better

government,” he said.