Jane Harmon has just announced that she will be resigning from the US House of Representatives to take over as the head of the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Washington think tank specializing in international relations. Harmon is a nine term Democrat holding the seat for California’s 36th District, a swath of coastal Los Angeles.
Excuse me, but didn’t she just get reelected, like, three months ago? What happened? Did she get to Congress after the last election, realize that the Democrats weren’t in charge of the House anymore, and immediately put her resume on the street?
Hers was apparently a pretty safe district, but she didn’t run unopposed, which meant that she probably spent at least a million bucks on her reelection campaign. That’s a lot of money. Other people’s money. I doubt her conversation with major donors included a line about her needing their cash, because she needed a paycheck while she was searching for a better gig. How about the campaign staff? Not the professionals, but the volunteers. “I need you to give up your time to support me, at least until I hear back from the search committee.” And don’t even get me started about perpetrating a fraud on the voters, who now get to foot the bill for a special election to replace her.
I don’t know all the ins and outs of her situation, but it’s hard not to be contemptuous of someone who runs for office, and then bails out upon receipt of a better offer. Of course, in all fairness, I feel pretty much the same way about Sarah Palin.
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