Looking For A Good Job? Try Running For Congress

Six years ago, Jeffrey Coopersmith was a young law-school graduate who had wandered into virtually every corner of America - except Washington state.

This time next year, Coopersmith hopes to be the next congressman from the north King and south Snohomish County suburbs.

To do that, this 36-year-old Democrat has to raise about $500,000 cash and spend it mostly on dismantling the reputation of one Rick White, the current occupant of that musical chair.

Given this country's grim political mood, particularly in places like the suburban 1st District, Coopersmith just may get what he's asking for.

In his 15-year career, Coopersmith has assembled an odd resume. Raised in a wealthy Democratic household near Washington, D.C., he studied at Princeton, mined coal in Wyoming, loaded ships in San Francisco, organized workers in Detroit and Texas, and served as an assistant to a New York congressman.

He studied law in Wisconsin and practiced briefly in New York before moving to Seattle in 1991. Here, he bought a home on Queen Anne, worked a couple of years as a deputy prosecutor, ran unsuccessfully for the Legislature, and managed an inner-city program for the Chamber of Commerce.

Now he's moving to the north end to run for Congress.

Coopersmith is a bright, engaging and ambitious fellow. But is this what qualifies him for Congress?

Apparently so. Of 600,000 people in the 1st District, perhaps 100,000 can be identified as Democrats. (There are roughly equal numbers of Republicans and independents.) Of those, not one has stepped forward to run against White. By moving north, Coopersmith is simply filling a vacuum.

Coopersmith's qualifications are no more sketchy than his predecessors'. Rick White is a native Indianan who moved here a decade ago to become a bankruptcy lawyer with a big Seattle firm. He had no political experience and no base. Maria Cantwell, who preceded White, was another Midwest refugee who served two terms in the Legislature before running for Congress.

Not so long ago, people were expected to prove a few things before they ran for Congress. They worked within their political parties, helped elect or re-elect older politicians, joined the staff of a congressman or senator. Then, they would run for the state Legislature. Along the way, they met people and built a base of support.

In some ways, it was Inside Baseball, an old-boys' club where success was rooted in political debts and alliances.

But it was also an unwritten process of apprenticeship. By the time a candidate ran for Congress, he understood how to get there and what to do when he arrived.

That's history. Under the new rules, parties and alliances mean little, and experience is likely to be a handicap.

A congressional district is comprised of 600,000 people, most of whom don't vote while the others are too busy or too cynical to pay attention to politics.

To get their votes, one has to get their attention. That means political consultants, pollsters and lots of TV ads.

All of which cost money. White and Cantwell each raised and spent more than $800,000 in 1994 - mostly on TV ads, many of them attacking each other.

This fact of life narrows the field of people willing to run for office. Even if the party helps out, a candidate faces the prospect of pleading with interest groups in an attempt to raise about $3,000 a day for months. Most people can't or won't do that. So they don't run.

Then come the TV ads, designed to convince people not to vote for the other guy. One old friend told me the other day she won't run for office because she won't risk seeing her long-forgotten indiscretions broadcast to the region.

Get past those obstacles and one faces the job itself. Congress is an intoxicating place - a decent salary, doting staff, TV lights, great perks and proximity to power.

But it also has to be one of the most frustrating jobs in America. A freshman like White feels compelled to spend two days a week on airliners, commuting across a continent. Their schedules are both glamorous and grueling.

For all their efforts, they get gridlock, and precious little change.

Who needs the job?

So far, just two people - Rick White and Jeffrey Coopersmith.

Each has also shown signs of higher motivations. White has been a solid freshman, willing to dive into complex issues such as telecommunications. Coopersmith's varied career suggests a willingness to view life and politics from other people's perspectives.

Those are fine qualities. But, judging by recent history, neither quality will make much, if any, difference in the upcoming congressional election.

Busy voters will decide this one based on who runs the toughest ads, which effectively narrows the choice to two qualities: money and ambition.

These are the ingredients of congressional elections.

And it's not the candidates' fault. They don't make the rules. They just play by them. Ross Anderson's column appears Wednesday on editorial pages of The Times.