Worst of All, They Must Be Representative of the Voters

First, Orange County voters tell Bob Dornan to get lost. And now Jay Kim is missing. Will someone please keep an eye on Chris Cox?

Kim is the congressman from Orange County’s northern climes whose bid for a fourth term was thrown for a loop this year when he wasn’t allowed to set foot in his district. That had the negative effect of eliminating his local appearances, not to mention any plans for door-to-door campaigning. To chat with constituents, Kim would have had to phone them.

Instead, the out-of-luck Kim spent the primary season in Washington, D.C., wearing an electronic ankle bracelet, a condition of his sentence for violating campaign finance laws.

Kim lost in the June GOP primary and everyone figured he’d never be heard from again after his term expired at the end of this year.

It seems, however, that Kim isn’t the type to let grass grow under his feet. He has dropped off the D.C. radar screens. Gone fishing, as it were.

It usually takes a hoist and pulley to extract ousted congressmen from their offices. They tend to leave claw marks on their desks and heel prints in the carpeting. Kim, however, has bailed a month early, shutting down offices in D.C. and Southern California.

It’s not that Kim is an indispensable member of Congress. But there is the tiny matter of President Clinton’s impeachment vote. You sort of figured Kim would stick around for that. After all, he gets in free and he has a vote. Presumably, he’d cast a non-impeachment vote and say with gusto, “Hey, anybody can make a mistake!”

But, nope, he’s given everyone the slip.

By now, you optimists are probably asking, OK, is there an upside to a missing congressman?

Yes, there is.

Wittingly or not, Kim has perpetuated our fine county’s reputation for producing more antic behavior per capita Republican congressman than anywhere in the nation. You wonder why Cox’s effort to win the House speakership lasted about 20 minutes? Guilt by association, that’s why.

An AWOL congressman is only the latest talking point.

In the 1950s and ‘60s, Orange County gave the nation James (“Utt the Nut”) Utt. He, in turn, once gave the country a newsletter asserting that sex education and rock music were components of a Communist conspiracy meant to destroy America.

Hard on his heels came John Schmitz, a national director of the John Birch Society and the candidate who picked up the banner for George Wallace’s Independent Party after he was shot while campaigning for president in 1972. To give you an idea of his politics, Schmitz thought Richard Nixon was soft on communism. Schmitz’s espousal of rock-ribbed family values took a hit when it was revealed he’d been keeping a mistress and had fathered a son out of wedlock.

His daughter is schoolteacher Mary Kay LeTourneau, who was found guilty of having a sex with, and bearing the child of, a sixth-grader.

In the ‘70s and ‘80s we had Robert Badham, who gained much notoriety for his world views. Correction: his world travels. Badham’s list of publicly financed excursions included the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Fiji, Jamaica, Mexico and Tahiti. Other trips included Belgium, England and Italy. All strictly business, he said.

That took us to Bill Dannemeyer, who once enlightened the AIDS debate by saying the virus could be spread by airborne spores.

And then, ladies and gentlemen, the star of our show, Mr. Bob Dornan!

‘Nuff said.

I’d be the first to admit that, with competition like that, an ankle bracelet-wearing, disappearing congressman is strictly a lounge act.

But don’t blame Kim.

He served only three terms. If he had as much time as those other guys, no telling what he could have done.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com