The Washington Post is front-paging a profile of Barack Obama entitled Obama’s Profile Has Democrats Taking Notice: Popular Senator Is Mentioned as 2008 Contender. Charles Babington, who wrote the piece, obtained some glowing praise of Obama from a variety of Democratic Senators. It’s a definite puff piece. But, it’s a puff piece of the type Democrats rarely receive. The question I have is, how many Democratic Senators intend to run for President in 2008. Right now we have John Kerry, Christopher Dodd, Russ Feingold, Evan Bayh, Joseph Biden, and Hillary Clinton all talking about running (am I forgetting anyone?) Add Obama into the mix and 16% of the current Democratic caucus is thinking about getting in the race. And this is in spite of the historic futility of Senatorial campaigns for the top job.
There are several reasons why Senators have difficulty winning on the national stage. Perhaps the biggest problem is a general lack of executive experience. While some Senators have prior experience as CEO’s or partners in large law firms, they generally lack experience overseeing large governmental departments. Governors have an obvious advantage in administrating. Another problem is in the nature of Congressional voting, where a Senator may be forced to vote against his own bill when an unattractive amendment is attached to it. It’s easy to run misleading campaign commercials that mischaracterize a Senator’s record. Another problem is with communication. A few years in the Senate tends to turn the most eloquent speaker into an empty gasbag (see John Kerry).
But, none of these problems represent a good reason to reject a Senator as a candidate. Some politicians have a certain magic that can defy conventional wisdom. Sometimes, a person is just the right person at the right time to do the job.
Schumer and Durbin think Obama might have the right stuff.
“I haven’t seen a phenomenon like this, where someone comes in so new and is so dazzling,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a 25-year veteran of Congress.
…”I think he is unique,” said Illinois’s senior senator, Richard J. Durbin (D). “I don’t believe there is another candidate I’ve seen, or an elected official, who really has the appeal that he does.” As for the 2008 presidential race, “I said to him, ‘Why don’t you just kind of move around Iowa and watch what happens?’ I know what’s going to happen. And I think it’s going to rewrite the game plans in a lot of presidential candidates if he makes that decision.”
Maybe so. Personally, I think this is wishful thinking. Or, maybe it is crackpipe thinking. And I really don’t think we can get a good performance from the Senate if 16% of them are running around the country begging for cash and votes, rather than doing the country’s and the party’s business. What say you?
