The Bell Curve:

I tried to visit him — or any member of his staff willing to talk — after the marchers dispersed, but was turned away politely but firmly by security in the lobby of his office building.

They gave me the phone number of Brent Hall, who turned out to be in Washington, D.C., and told me he handled media for Campbell and might well have added that he also protects the congressman’s backside.

He answered every question with a fixed speech that told me how diligently Campbell was dealing with constituent problems all over the county, which wasn’t responsive to the questions I was asking.

After a lengthy run of this game, I learned that Campbell was in Orange County when the march took place, but no one could remember if he was in his office, if he saw any of the march, how he felt about it, and if it had moved him to take another look at supporting some town hall exercises in his congressional district.

Meanwhile, democracy lives on.

JOSEPH N. BELL lives in Newport Beach. His column runs Thursdays.