The qualities Cox’s replacement needs

Wednesday, the Daily Pilot’s top story was about the search for a

replacement candidate for U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox, who has been

appointed by President Bush to head the Securities and Exchange

Commission.

In the story, several local Democrats and Republicans discuss what

type of candidate will be needed to fill the seat in Congress.

The story’s writer, Alicia Robinson, framed it perfectly with this

opening sentence: “If you’re a registered Democrat, if you’ve got at

least half a million dollars and you’re fond of being the underdog,

give Frank Barbaro a call.” (Barbaro is the chairman of the Orange

County Democratic Party.)

The rest of the story is sprinkled with notes and quotes about

what it will take to run a Democrat -- and win -- in a heavily

Republican district. One potential candidate, Don Udall, was

described as having an interest in the race to bring up such issues

as tort reform and the medical treatment issues raised by Terri

Schiavo’s case.

A couple of important matters, to be sure.

That story was followed by one Thursday that quoted Laguna Niguel

City Councilwoman Cassie DeYoung as saying about the qualifications

of Cox’s replacement, “It would be a very hard road for someone to go

down that has a pro-airport background.”

Translation: If you supported the idea of a big, smelly, noisy

international airport eight miles away, don’t bother to run.

About all of this, let’s start by declaring that DeYoung is wrong.

A former pro-airport supporter can win the election. All he or she

has to do is admit what all but a few desperate supporters already

know: There will not be a big, smelly, noisy airport eight miles

south of Newport Beach.

Then the candidate moves on to important issues, the same way the

pro-airport money has moved on. Those important issues, by the way,

do not include tort reform or medical-treatment issues.

Long before Terry Schiavo entered the hospital, Karen Ann Quinlan

lay in a coma for 10 years, from 1975 to 1985. Her family wanted her

artificial life support ended but, in a national debate, were

prevented from doing so.

Tort reform? I can go back decades to prove how long the lawyers

in Washington have bounced this idea around.

This is not about Don Udall. His interest in public service

already puts him ahead of the rest of us, and I’d bet he is a good

man who is sincere about his desire to advance these two issues. But

at the risk of appearing more cynical than realistic, I would advise

Udall, or any other candidate, to spend their time far away from all

of Washington’s cold-case files.

OK, so that’s what we don’t want in a Cox replacement. Here’s what

we do want:

1. We want someone who knows how to admit a mistake. Read or

listen to any information leadership qualifications, and at or near

the top of the list you will find this one. Admitting a mistake is

not a weakness; it is a strength. It’s also smart because nine times

out of 10, everyone knows you blew it, and it’s best just to ‘fess

up.

2. We want someone who understands that neither major party has a

lock on what is right. This may be a tough one, but this one point is

one of the top reasons why Washington can’t get issues resolved.

3. We want someone who understands that you and I are paying their

salary. Big money isn’t necessary to run a successful campaign --

that’s merely the dictum of the status quo. Need proof? During his

1992 presidential run, Former California Gov. Jerry Brown did not

accept donations of more than $100. Brown defeated Bill Clinton in

Maine, Colorado, Vermont Connecticut, Utah and Nevada and was the

only candidate other than Clinton to receive enough voter support to

continue until the Democratic National Convention.

4. We want someone who can admit that they don’t have all the

answers. Clinging to this stubbornness is another reason why

Washington has stopped having any significant impact on our daily

lives.

5. We want someone who understands that most issues in Washington

should be resolved by individual states and that the country will be

better off by embracing Thomas Jefferson’s concept of decentralized

government.

We want a statesman, not a politician. We want someone who knows

what it’s like to miss an expiration date on a coupon, who knows what

it’s like to hear a noise in your engine and worry about how much it

will cost to fix, who knows the joy of making it to a box office in

time to get the reduced price of a movie ticket.

We want someone who understands that the top issues for locals are

not an airport, tort reform, medical treatment reform or any other

cold case. We are concerned about brave soldiers fighting and dying

in Iraq. We are concerned about the lack of a national energy policy

that will reduce our oil dependency. We are concerned about the

deterioration of our environment and Washington’s failure to do

anything significant.

And most of all, we are concerned that Washington has been bought

by big money.

We are most concerned about that because it is true.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(714) 966-4664 or send story ideas to dailypilot@latmes.com.