A Yes Vote for Rosenberg

The 40th Congressional District, with its heavy Republican registration, is one of the safest districts in the nation for an incumbent officeholder. That built-in protection should produce bold and innovative leadership. It hasn’t.

Instead, incumbent Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) has been providing uninspired service that at times seems to ignore, more than represent, his constituency. That hasn’t gone unnoticed with rank-and-file Republicans.

Support for Badham has been consistently waning. In 1982 he captured 72% of his district’s vote in winning reelection. In 1984, when President Reagan captured 75% of all Orange County votes and all other Republican incumbent congressmen in the county kept pace, Badham managed to get only 64% of the vote in the 40th, the GOP stronghold. That was one of the poorest showings in the nation for a Republican congressman. It was also a good indication of the growing dissatisfaction with Badham’s representation, or, more precisely, his lack of it.

The Republican hierarchy has protected Badham by being able to discourage Republicans from challenging him. But not this time.

In Tuesday’s primary, Badham is being challenged by Nathan Rosenberg, a young, bright, energetic candidate who resigned as president of the Young Republicans and bucked the party politicians who tried to discourage him from going after Badham.

We normally do not endorse candidates in primary elections, but the heavy Republican registration of the 40th district makes it a near certainty that nomination in June is tantamount to election to Congress. And we think all Orange County residents, not only Republicans in the 40th district, would be better served if Rosenberg rather than Badham was in Congress.

Badham’s attendance record in Washington is awful. Consistently it is one of the worst in Congress. He is seen even less in his district in Orange County, and, at times, public officials in the 40th district needing federal help have gone to other congressmen, not Badham, to get it.

One reason for Badham’s poor attendance record is his foreign junkets at taxpayers’ expense. For the last two years Badham, according to Congress Watch, has traveled abroad at public expense more than any other U.S. congressman except one. His last trip included stops in such strategic spots as Fiji and Tahiti.

Badham has also drawn justifiable criticism for spending campaign funds on clothes for his wife, dinnerware for his home and gifts for his friends. And he was slow in joining the rest of the county’s congressmen in supporting flood-control improvements along the Santa Ana River.

No district should be so safe that its residents must put up with such complacent--and at times arrogant--representation. The 40th Congressional District doesn’t have to. It now has a choice in Rosenberg, who holds out the promise of bringing needed energy and effective representation to the district.

Rosenberg is a former naval officer with some Washington experience in defense and foreign policy. He deserves a chance to show what he can do. Badham has had 10 years, and what he has shown is just not good enough.