Posted on 09/08/2001 9:36:20 AM PDT by Salvation
Retirement holds advantages for Condit, Democrats
By MICHAEL DOYLE
Scripps-McClatchy Western Service
September 07, 2001
WASHINGTON - Rep. Gary Condit's retirement decision remains unclear, but the costs and benefits can still be stacked up.
Amid conflicting reports Friday about Condit's future, the balance sheet comparing retirement-vs.-resignation-vs.-running again has become largely filled out. The political sum shows clear benefits to announcing a retirement, though at a cost of significantly reduced Capitol Hill influence.
Several news organizations, including Fox and MSNBC, cited anonymous sources Friday in reporting that Condit had decided not to see re-election. These reports claimed a formal announcement could be made in about a week. Condit's office, though, insisted through a written statement that the reports were premature if not flat-out wrong.
"Media reports (Friday) stating that Congressman Condit has reached a decision regarding his 2002 campaign are inaccurate," the statement said. "No such decision has been made."
The statement was not attributed to Condit or any of his staffers. Condit's administrative assistant, Mike Dayton, reiterated that no career decision had yet been made.
One California congressional insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Condit had not been discussing his future plans with House colleagues. But behind the scenes, some maneuvering was definitely occurring in anticipation of a retirement announcement.
Some Stanislaus County residents were contacted by telephone pollsters this week, asking for impressions of Condit. The pollsters also sought to compare Democratic Assemblyman Dennis Cardozo vs. Republican state Sen. Dick Monteith, who are potential rivals for the seat if Condit retires. And Democratic state Sen. Jim Costa on Friday said he would run for the seat if Condit stepped down.
The benefits that would flow from Condit deciding to retire in January 2003, rather than resigning immediately or seeking re-election, include both the personal and the political. One certain cost, though, would be the vastly diminished clout that comes with being a controversial short-timer.
"He would be a very unusual lame duck," said Larry Sabato, professor of government at the University of Virginia. "Lame ducks normally have just one web damaged. With him, it would be all of his limbs ... (and) his ability to accomplish things would be zero."
This could significantly touch California issues including farm and water policy. Condit is the senior Californian on the House Agriculture Committee, which is now writing a new farm bill, and he once served as Gov. Gray Davis's liaison for key Central Valley water negotiations. Even before a retirement decision, moreover, the bridges seem to be burning between the Davis and Condit camps. Both of Condit's children quit their jobs in the Davis administration after the governor said he was "disheartened" by Condit's actions.
"I've worked for the governor for nearly three years," Condit's daughter Cadee said this week on CNN's "Larry King Live," "and I know that he doesn't have very many friends that don't help him, either politically or financially, and I guess he felt the congressman couldn't help him politically anymore."
Still, it is also possible the personal relationships Condit has developed over 12 years in Congress could yet pay off in some targeted legislative legacies. A public demonstration of these relationships occurred Wednesday night, when several colleagues hugged Condit on the House floor.
The other benefits of serving out his term would range from the strictly financial to the broadly partisan.
For one, Condit would continue to draw his congressional salary. Currently at $145,100 a year, the salary is scheduled to increase to $150,178 in January. That may not be his primary consideration, but it can't be ignored. According to his financial disclosure statements, Condit and his wife, Carolyn, have no savings, retirement accounts, stocks, mutual funds or other assets beyond their two homes.
Condit also could start drawing a $19,400 annual pension in the year 2003 if he retires at the end of this term, according to calculations made by Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union. Resigning immediately would mean his initial pension would be $16,800, Sepp calculated. By finishing his term, Condit thus ensures himself $2,600 a year more in pension payments.
"I would not characterize it as a huge difference," Sepp said Friday.
For the Democratic Party, Condit serves a useful purpose by sticking it out until 2003. Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush won the current district by 9 percentage points in 2000, so a resignation that leads to a special election would give the GOP an advantage. But Democrats are now redrawing the district to make it safer next year. The latest plan creates a district that Democrat Al Gore would have won by 9 percentage points, which is considered a safe post-Condit margin for the party.
For Condit personally, sticking around would provide time to at least partially reconstruct his reputation. Right now, that reputation is badly tarnished in the wake of his involvement with missing woman Chandra Levy and his widely panned public appearances following a long public silence. A Modesto Bee poll taken immediately following his Aug. 23 interview by ABC's Connie Chung found that more than half of those asked would not vote for him again.
But though Sabato said Condit "will be completely ineffective" as a legislator, there are some potential non-legislative paths to reclaiming goodwill. One is constituent service. Even a lame-duck House member retains about 16 congressional staffers, who can continue tracking down Social Security checks, challenging federal bureaucracies and in other ways making constituents happy.
"We have people from all walks of life that call our office because they need help," Condit's district director, Lisa Mantarro Moore, said recently on "Larry King Live." "It may not be something that the federal government has anything to do with, but they've heard that Gary Condit will help people and not turn them away."
The effectiveness of any rehabilitation effort, in turn, would depend partly on the pre-retirement model of behavior Condit follows.
One possibility is giving up and lashing out. When former Rep. Marty Martinez was defeated last year in a Democratic primary, for instance, he switched sides to the Republican Party and his voting percentage plummeted to 74 percent - one of the lowest in Congress. This scenario, however, is not conducive to reputation rebuilding.
An alternative route off Capitol Hill was taken by Vic Fazio, who represented the Sacramento Valley for 20 years in the House. After announcing his retirement, he was still able to direct benefits to constituents and area institutions like the University of California, Davis. Unlike Condit, though, he was also a member of both the Democratic leadership and of the money-doling House Appropriations Committee.
Cognizant of Condit's pride and love of independence, many Democrats want to avoid any impression that they're pressuring him one way or another.
"He got elected by over a half-million people, just like I did," House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt said Friday. "His political future is between him and them. It's not my business."
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(Michael Doyle is a Washington reporter for Scripps-
McClatchy Western Service.)
Maneuvering behind the scenes, huh?
The Democrats are stirring their caldrons.
Pensions are based on final salaries. It galls me that he should earn another $5000/year when we should be sending him bills for the disgrace he has brought upon the Levy family, himself, his own family, and our nation.
I think he should leave now and forgeit all this money.
The jobs were never meant to be permanent.
A salary for doing the job? Yes. Pensions? No!
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