Candidate No-Shows

On Oct. 4, my group, the National Assn. of Retired Federal Employees, held a forum for candidates running for Congress in the 24th District.

Rep. Brad Sherman, who was in Washington, promptly informed us that he could not attend due to his legislative responsibilities. The congressman sent a representative who dined with our group, spoke to us, and stayed for questions and answers.

The congressman’s opponent, after personally promising us that he would attend, did not. When I called, during the forum, to inquire about his absence, a campaign worker informed me that he had left town for a fund-raiser.

Needless to say, I was shocked and dismayed by your headline, “Rep. Sherman Among No-Shows for Candidates’ Forum,” that appeared the following day. In my experience, his opponent has been the one who is the No-Show.

ROXIE GOODMAN

Political coordinator,

National Assn. of Retired Federal Employees

*

I read with interest your headline “Rep. Sherman Among No-Shows for Candidates’ Forum” (Oct. 5). Many of your readers who just read the headline may have reached the wrong conclusion.

Those who read the article carefully would have learned that my absence was because I was in Washington on Sept. 28, meeting my legislative responsibilities as a congressman.

Had I flown home, I would have missed crucial votes Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, at a minimum. Would this have produced an equivalent headline, “Sherman a No-Show on House Floor”?

I recognize the importance of election debates. However, in this instance, my legislative responsibilities--which I take very seriously--made attending the debate impossible.

Congress was scheduled to adjourn Oct. 6, so I have agreed to attend campaign events after that. That is why we advised the sponsors of the forum that I could not attend unless they were willing to schedule it for mid- or late October. They were unwilling.

Incidentally, the same day you discussed my absence, your newspaper ran an article on how two of my colleagues, James Rogan and Steve Kuykendall, were “stuck in Washington, D.C., for the hectic closing days of the congressional session” and were sending surrogates to campaign events. We sent an outstanding surrogate, community leader Rob Vinson, to the forum to which you referred.

Republican leadership has not been terribly efficient or bipartisan in running the House of Representatives. Accordingly, it is possible that we still will be in session well into the latter half of October, in which case I will miss many more campaign events, including another forum scheduled Thursday. However, until Congress adjourns, rest assured, I will not abandon or ignore my duties in Washington, D.C., to attend campaign-related events.

REP. BRAD SHERMAN

D-Sherman Oaks