ASADENA, Calif. - A year after Democrats vowed to oust Representative Jim Rogan and other House prosecutors of President Clinton, impeachment seems to have all but vanished as an issue.
Very few of the Republicans are in any danger in either their party's primaries or the November elections, and their opponents have been reluctant to criticize their role. More often, the impeachment issue has emerged in fund-raising pitches, and these have been behind-the-scenes appeals addressed to party activists.
''I really don't think that I need to talk about impeachment. The voters are really quite aware of Rogan's role in the trial,'' said Rogan's Democratic opponent, state Senator Adam Schiff. ''I think the role impeachment has played is it's only the most recent and most visible example of his detachment from the district.''
Rogan, who is running for his third term, is probably the most vulnerable of the House prosecutors, but his weakness seems to be a result of a growing Democratic majority among his electorate.
Issues like gun control, abortion, and even interstate extensions are dominating the tight race in this suburban Los Angeles district, home to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the West's first freeway.
''It was a lot of noise about something irrelevant,'' said Don Garrett, an accountant and undecided voter sitting outside a coffee shop.
Rogan makes no apologies for his role in the impeachment trial and said he would do it again ''100 years from tomorrow.''
''I didn't run for Congress to impeach anybody,'' Rogan said. ''Had I failed to act as I did, I would have failed in my oath of the office.''
Of the 12 other House managers, Bob Barr of Georgia faces a mild threat from a Democrat, nine are in safe seats, Charles Canady of Florida isn't running, and Bill McCollum of Florida is seeking a seat in the Senate and is facing strong opposition in the GOP primary but has a big advantage in fund-raising.
