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October 1, 2009
Family Name No Guarantee in Politics
…unless, perhaps, the name is "Kennedy." The Christian Science Monitor notes Beau Biden's (son of Vice President Joe Biden) likely U.S. Senate candidacy, and goes on to mention a few more "political dynasties in the making" around the nation, including some Tennessee neighbors—the Carnahans and Blunts in Missouri, and Rand Paul in Kentucky—as well as one right here at home: Mike McWherter, son of former Governor Ned Ray McWherter, is running for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2010 gubernatorial race.
It's not always advantageous to run for office from within a political family, says the article:
Being a son or a daughter of a prominent politician does not always make someone a shoo-in. “Some famous names don’t last for long,” says Senate historian Donald Ritchie.Franklin Roosevelt Jr. served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955, but lost his bid to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York governor. And when House majority leader Richard Armey (R) of Texas announced his retirement in 2002, his son, Scott lost his primary election bid to replace him.
Closer to home, we've seen electoral successes and failures by Tennessee politicians' offspring—and some mixed results, as had by former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., who won his father's House seat with no problem, but did not capture the statewide vote in his run for the U.S. Senate. Former Congressman Bob Clement comes to mind as well.
TennesseeTicket was given the opportunity to sit down with Mike McWherter on Wednesday, and a separate post is in the works that will recap the interview.
Political News , TN Gubernatorial Elections , US Senate Elections | By joe lance | 10:15 AM
Comments
You left out a pretty signifcant family of the Duncan's in Congressional District 2...they've held that seat since 1965.
Posted by: Jonathan at October 1, 2009 11:12 AM