Posted on 12/22/2003 5:16:04 PM PST by barker
U.S. Rep. Karen McCarthy revealed Saturday that she would not seek re-election to Congress next year.
The five-term Kansas City Democrat, who disclosed in March that she is an alcoholic and has struggled with ethical issues and high staff turnover, said she was seeking more tranquillity.
“I want to focus on balance in my public life,” she said in an interview with The Kansas City Star. “Too often, I've put my career and helping others ahead of my own needs. I made sacrifices willingly; it was what I did best.”
The key now, said the 56-year-old McCarthy, is looking after herself.
“What is it that Karen needs to be happy and satisfied and at peace?'' she said. “I wasn't seeking quality time for Karen. So it was a lot of energy going out. I'm looking for energy coming back in – that renews.”
With the 2004 election about 10 months away, McCarthy's announcement will ignite speculation about a possible successor. Two Democrats and two Republicans have already entered the race. But the focus will be most intense on former two-term Kansas City Mayor Emanuel Cleaver.
McCarthy said Saturday that she had talked to Cleaver and that he was interested in a possible run.
“He's indicated a willingness to go back to public service, which I applaud. That's very good news for the community,” she said.
Cleaver, 59, a minister, has hinted of his interest in recent weeks but said repeatedly he would not challenge McCarthy in a primary, because she supported him when he ran for mayor the first time in 1991.
On Saturday, he said: “I've told people in the party that I am now open to the possibility. But it's not like it's a definite go. I am now actively thinking about it and talking with people.”
He said a decision probably was several weeks off. It will hinge, he said, on the reaction of his family, the congregation of St. James United Methodist Church, where he is pastor, and his bishop. If any of them balks, Cleaver said, he won't run.
Another factor: the health of Cleaver's wife, Dianne. She recently suffered a minor stroke but is expected to make a full recovery.
Because of his name recognition and stints as mayor, Cleaver would be the best-known candidate.
McCarthy stopped short of an outright endorsement, saying she wanted to wait to see how the campaign unfolded.
The two Democrats in the race are Jamie Metzl and Damian Thorman. Other Democrats, such as Kansas City Councilman Terry Riley, are also considering runs.
The two Republicans in the running are Steve Dennis and Jeff Brauner.
McCarthy said she was excited and happy about her decision to step aside.
She said she was interested in teaching, in continuing to work on the environment and other issues, and in community organizing. She said she had not lined up another job, but had a year to find one before she formally left Congress early in 2005.
She did not rule out a future run for political office, but she said she had no plans to do so anytime soon.
McCarthy's disclosure comes at the end of a tumultuous year for the congresswoman.
In March she fell down an escalator in a House office building and cut her head. The next day, she acknowledged she had a drinking problem and had “hit bottom.” A few days later, she left for a month-long stay in an Arizona rehabilitation center.
After that event, her office staff was plagued by turnover. At last count in November, a dozen members of her 14-member staff had quit or been fired since March.
Included were three top aides, among them longtime chief of staff Phil Scaglia, who left in July. The staff organization has been restructured and the top job in Washington remains vacant.
Publicly and privately, many of those workers complained of demanding and demeaning behavior. They said the behavior continued even after McCarthy returned to Congress in May.
Among the complaints was that McCarthy used staffers as a sort of chauffeur service to drive her around Washington and that she criticized the work of staffers with such blunt written notations as “You are pathetic.”
Also, she was known to publicly berate staffers, such as the time in May 2002 when she was seen on the steps of the Capitol “screaming her brains out” at Scaglia, according to Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper.
McCarthy has denied misusing her staff to get her around Washington, and Scaglia said the May 2002 incident was the result of long days and nights of work in the Capitol.
Lately, several more staffers have spoken out publicly about life in McCarthy's office. Christopher Hoven, her last top aide in Washington, left Oct. 31 after six weeks on the job.
“It was the most difficult office I've been in in 15 years on Capitol Hill,” said Hoven, who has worked for six members of Congress.
Among McCarthy's other problems was her decision to hire a consultant to improve her campaign and office organization. The House ethics panel has since barred her from using either taxpayer money or campaign funds to pay the remaining $12,500 owed the consultant. The issue remains unresolved.
Disgruntled former staffers also have leaked documents showing McCarthy questionably used campaign funds for a trip to the Grammy Awards in New York this year. The expenditure was not recorded correctly in her disclosure forms.
Asked Saturday about her staff problems, McCarthy said she was not comfortable discussing personnel matters that are typically confidential. “There are,” McCarthy said, “two sides to every story.”
But McCarthy, described by some as a perfectionist, admitted that she had been as hard on her staff as she had been on herself.
“There were expectations they couldn't meet,'' she said. “It was not fair for me to impose those on others.”
McCarthy said her key accomplishments included renewed congressional authority for the bistate tax, a task that she accomplished in one week through intensive lobbying of key Republican leaders.
“It was a miracle,” she said of her feat.
She also cited her work to cut the capital gains tax in President Clinton's second term and the federal dollars she corralled for parks in Weston and Kansas City.
Analysts have said that McCarthy would have faced a difficult primary battle and maybe a difficult re-election battle, although she probably would have been favored in each because she is an incumbent.
But long-time Democratic activist Woody Overton applauded McCarthy's decision.
“It's good for Karen,” he said. “She's had some difficulties over the past few years, and I think she's smart not to run, and she needs to take care of herself.”
Overton said McCarthy reflected her district well in Washington through her votes.
He also said Cleaver would win if he chooses to run.
“But he needs to make his mind up,” Overton said. “I would hope he would make his mind up within the next 30 days.”
McCarthy's decision comes after several weeks of talks with constituent groups around her district, which covers most of Jackson County and part of Cass County. Overwhelmingly, those groups encouraged her to run again, McCarthy said.
“There will always be unfinished business,” she said. “And there is not always a right time for retirement. “For me, this is the right time.”
To reach Steve Kraske, call
(816) 234-4312 or send e-mail to
skraske@kcstar.com.
I think I'll go ice-skating in Hell tomorrow...
I hope she finds it.
This story is about replacing a damaged Dem with an undamaged one.
You just don't dis an aide with the last name Scaglia (in the Missouri 5th district) and expect to get away with it. Especially when you have left a big ol' opening like being a drunk. That said, I find it very curious that there has been such a drumbeat, steady, organized opposition to Karen. The long knives are out. I expect the forces behind it will support Cleaver (and did since the beginning of the campaign). I find it very curious that in ALL of these articles that have appeared in the last few months that the name of James B. Nutter has never been uttered. (Quite poetic, don't ya' think?)
PS Hope your significant other is feeling much better.
5th Congressional District, Missouri
Democrat, Years of Service: 8
| ACU Ratings for Representative McCarthy: | |
| Year 2002 | 0 |
| Year 2001 | 4 |
| Lifetime | 6 |
2002 Congressional Vote Breakdown:
Well, I suppose anybody who gets elected can't be any worse than her!
“Too often, I've put my career and helping others ahead of my own needs. I made sacrifices willingly; it was what I did best.”
I believe the second statement contradicts the first.
She treats the staff and the people she represents like Hillary reportedly treated hers. "IT'S ALL ABOUT ME, you peons do my bidding"
Another politician who thinks the rules apply only to EVERYONE ELSE.
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