Congresswoman's behavior has party weighing challenge

Shortly after midnight on March 21, congressional aides tried to coax Rep. Karen McCarthy toward a government parking garage. Instead, McCarthy turned and charged up the down escalator. She hurled her satchel at an aide, lost her balance and pitched forward, gashing her forehead on the serrated metal of the steps.

Hours later, McCarthy joined a long list of lawmakers who have admitted alcoholism. McCarthy, 56, apparently is the first woman in Congress to do so.

Her actions since returning from treatment in May have called attention to a pattern of behavior that has several fellow Democrats considering whether to take her on in the August 2004 primary.

The pattern includes missed votes, high staff turnover and an attempt to charge taxpayers for a campaign consultant, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.

At least three Kansas City Democrats are weighing the race: City Councilman Troy Nash, Jackson County legislator Dan Tarwater and Jamie Metzl, a former Senate aide and former White House fellow.

"If you can tie these things -- voting, office turnover, personal behavior -- to quality of representation, those are powerful arguments," said Burdett Loomis, professor of political science at the University of Kansas.

Missed votes

The night McCarthy fell, she missed a vote on President Bush's tax-cutting plan to bolster the economy, which won approval by only three votes.

It wasn't the first time, or the last time, McCarthy missed an important vote. Over the years, McCarthy missed votes on President Bush's first tax cut in 2001, permanently ending the marriage penalty tax, the House farm bill and condemning the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

She also missed votes on campaign finance reform, restoring Medicare cuts to hospitals, school vouchers, missile defense, mandatory sentences for gun crimes and trade sanctions on Cuba, among other bills.

McCarthy has skipped votes even since her return from a month of treatment in Arizona. She missed the last two votes on July 25 before House members went home for the August recess. The rest of the Missouri delegation except for Dick Gephardt, who's running for president, stayed to vote on the $984 million relief bill for victims of natural disasters.

An aide said McCarthy left because she needed to catch a July 25 flight to attend a July 26 funeral in Independence, Mo. for a soldier killed in Iraq.

In interviews, McCarthy said she didn't know the reasons why she missed the other votes and that her system of having staff track those circumstances had broken down.

She said that alcohol did not play a part in any missed votes.

"The thing about this job is, it's always a series of choices. I could be in three places right now," McCarthy said. "And it's true for every member."

McCarthy has missed 4.21 percent of the House's votes since taking office in 1995. She has missed 217 of the 5,160 votes cast during her tenure, according to an analysis by Congressional Observer Publications, a nonpartisan vote-tracking service. Before this year, when she sought treatment for alcoholism, McCarthy missed 133 out of 4,701 votes.

By comparison, three Missourians have missed more votes, on average, than McCarthy: Gephardt, Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay of St. Louis and Republican Rep. Kenny Hulshof of Columbia.

But the other five House members and two senators from Missouri have missed fewer votes on average.

Staff turnover

Half of McCarthy's staff left after the escalator incident. But she's had considerably higher-than-average turnover throughout her time in Congress.

The average staffer works for a House member for four years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Management Foundation. Most of McCarthy's stayed only a few months, according to an AP analysis of House spending records through March 31.

In an interview, McCarthy refused to discuss how staff turnover affects her job performance, or why her turnover is so high.

"It's just unprofessional to be discussing certain individuals and why they move on to other challenges," McCarthy said.

The AP analysis found that in all, McCarthy had 105 employees on the payroll from 1995 through March 31.

Constituents may not notice it, but high turnover typically results in less productive, lower-quality work, said Rick Shapiro, executive director of the Congressional Management Foundation. Lawmakers known for being difficult bosses find it hard to attract talented or experienced job applicants, he added.

The AP contacted and interviewed several former aides, none of whom was willing to be quoted for this story.

McCarthy said she is planning to run for a sixth term in the House.

"I'm loving what I do now. I love my work. I love the challenges. I love the people, and the issues," she said. "I'd like to be here long enough to know what it's like to be in the majority. That would be great."