Dynastic Politics

You want more evidence that the republic is in decay? How about the fact that more and more candidates for office just happen to be the children of elected officials? I live in New York, where Bronx politics is essentially a competition between 3 or 4 Latino families. In Alaska Lisa Murkowski gets appointed to the Senate by her dad and manages to defeat a popular former governor. I was watching a report on CSPAN from Hotline, and apparently in Florida there are something like 5 candidates for the House and Senate who are the children of politicians. And finally there is the looming 2008 campaign, where we see the wife of a President and the brother of a President the most likely successors to the son of a President.

I know there has always been some of this, but I'm willing to bet that it has gotten much worse in the last generation. I love the Kennedys, but they might have opened a pandora's box. For more, check out Kevin Phillips' book American Dynasty.

I've said if before: democracies do not have the luxury of engaging in dynastic politics. Do we really believe that political ability and the right to hold office is somehow transmitted through the blood? Because if we do, then we have something like the old Roman oligarchy. Sure people got to vote, but everyone on the ballot had a very familiar last name.