Biden, And The Insider's Albatross
It’s hard for some of us to believe, but apparently the fact that Joe Biden wants to be President of the United States is considered news to many in the media.
It would not be any great revelation to disclose that Senator Biden (D – DC via Delaware) has believed himself to be more qualified for the job of president than any man who has held the office since he first arrived in the United States Senate thirty-two years ago. For that matter, it is evident that he also believes himself to be more qualified for virtually any cabinet position than any person who has held said position during that same time. If confidence in one’s own abilities were all that is required to be elected President, Mr. Biden would be a virtual shoe-in.
Unfortunately for the Senator, the American people – rightly or wrongly – have their own criteria for determining who they want to be their leader. And one of these in particular could be problematic for him, as well as any other sitting U.S. Senator who campaigns for the office.
It is an oft-repeated mantra that Americans are generally disinclined to transfer a sitting Senator to the top of the Executive Branch of government – John Kennedy being the last man to convince them to do so in 1960. Granted, the reasoning may have nothing to do with the qualifications of the person in question, but the truth of the matter stands nonetheless. And one doesn’t have to spend a whole lot of time listening carefully to the voices of the people to get an idea of why this is so.
The short version of the explanation is simply that Americans do not want the single most powerful office in the nation held by someone who is not “one of them.” And, try as they might to overcome that obstacle, men – and women – who decide to make their careers and homes in the Federal District have a difficult time convincing people that they are “one of them.”
It is impossible to put a precise measurement on the amount of time one must spend in Washington before the people of his state begin to view him more of a member of the Washington crowd than the Dover, or Phoenix, or Albany crowd. Some certainly get to that point more quickly than others. But it seems safe to say that, after thirty-two years, one would certainly be perceived in this way.
Not that being from Washington is an inherent disqualification from office. Only that the perception has taken hold that those who come to identify more with the Capital city and its institutions than they do with the hometown and its institutions have trouble convincing a majority of Americans from states other than their own that they can set aside their personal relationships with other Washington “players” and focus on the interests of those “back home” – wherever that may be in America. And well-publicized “deals” between these players – such as the recent pact between the “group of fourteen” regarding judicial nominations – only further add to this perception.
In other words, whether a Senator actually fits this description or not on an individual level, his association with an institution filled with those who do fit it acts as an automatic “first obstacle” to be overcome. One that puts a person in this position at a distinct disadvantage compared to those who didn’t have to overcome it in the first place – think William J. Clinton and George W. Bush, or Bill Richardson and Mitt Romney.
If a Joseph Biden – or a John McCain, or a John Kerry – truly believes in the necessity to convince the voting public that he is connected to its heartbeat in order to be elected President, he should give these truths serious thought before taking up what is perceived to be permanent residence in the isolated air of Washington. Or perhaps follow the leads of the Bill Frists and John Edwards by taking their leave of the city for a while before making a run for its most cherished real estate.
It would not be any great revelation to disclose that Senator Biden (D – DC via Delaware) has believed himself to be more qualified for the job of president than any man who has held the office since he first arrived in the United States Senate thirty-two years ago. For that matter, it is evident that he also believes himself to be more qualified for virtually any cabinet position than any person who has held said position during that same time. If confidence in one’s own abilities were all that is required to be elected President, Mr. Biden would be a virtual shoe-in.
Unfortunately for the Senator, the American people – rightly or wrongly – have their own criteria for determining who they want to be their leader. And one of these in particular could be problematic for him, as well as any other sitting U.S. Senator who campaigns for the office.
It is an oft-repeated mantra that Americans are generally disinclined to transfer a sitting Senator to the top of the Executive Branch of government – John Kennedy being the last man to convince them to do so in 1960. Granted, the reasoning may have nothing to do with the qualifications of the person in question, but the truth of the matter stands nonetheless. And one doesn’t have to spend a whole lot of time listening carefully to the voices of the people to get an idea of why this is so.
The short version of the explanation is simply that Americans do not want the single most powerful office in the nation held by someone who is not “one of them.” And, try as they might to overcome that obstacle, men – and women – who decide to make their careers and homes in the Federal District have a difficult time convincing people that they are “one of them.”
It is impossible to put a precise measurement on the amount of time one must spend in Washington before the people of his state begin to view him more of a member of the Washington crowd than the Dover, or Phoenix, or Albany crowd. Some certainly get to that point more quickly than others. But it seems safe to say that, after thirty-two years, one would certainly be perceived in this way.
Not that being from Washington is an inherent disqualification from office. Only that the perception has taken hold that those who come to identify more with the Capital city and its institutions than they do with the hometown and its institutions have trouble convincing a majority of Americans from states other than their own that they can set aside their personal relationships with other Washington “players” and focus on the interests of those “back home” – wherever that may be in America. And well-publicized “deals” between these players – such as the recent pact between the “group of fourteen” regarding judicial nominations – only further add to this perception.
In other words, whether a Senator actually fits this description or not on an individual level, his association with an institution filled with those who do fit it acts as an automatic “first obstacle” to be overcome. One that puts a person in this position at a distinct disadvantage compared to those who didn’t have to overcome it in the first place – think William J. Clinton and George W. Bush, or Bill Richardson and Mitt Romney.
If a Joseph Biden – or a John McCain, or a John Kerry – truly believes in the necessity to convince the voting public that he is connected to its heartbeat in order to be elected President, he should give these truths serious thought before taking up what is perceived to be permanent residence in the isolated air of Washington. Or perhaps follow the leads of the Bill Frists and John Edwards by taking their leave of the city for a while before making a run for its most cherished real estate.
posted by JeffreyH | 12:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home