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Lawmakers line up for a shot at the White House

By Thomas Ferraro
REUTERS, WASHINGTONAN OLD JOKE ON CAPITOL HILL GOES LIKE THIS: EVERY TIME A MEMBER OF CONGRESS LOOKS INTO A MIRROR HE THINKS HE SEES A F
Monday, Sep 29, 2003, Page 9

ILLUSTRATION: MOUNTAIN PEOPLE

The line helps explain why so many US lawmakers end up running for the White House -- including six this year -- even though so few succeed.

In fact, the last sitting lawmaker elected president was Senator John Kennedy. The Massachusetts Democrat reached the political mountaintop in 1960.

Since then scores of others have tried, including Republicans Barry Goldwater, Howard Baker, Phil Gramm and Bob Dole, and Democrats Edmund Muskie, George McGovern, Eugene McCarthy and Kennedy's younger brother, Edward.

Many of these and other failed contenders have been driven by an often intoxicating blend of fame, ego, a belief that they could make a difference and their ability to raise campaign contributions.

"They all think they will be the exception, and win," said Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican who reached for the presidential ring in 2000.

"People constantly come up to you in Congress and say, `You should be president,'" he said.

US lawmakers enjoy plenty of advantages for a White House bid -- like name recognition, political connections, a party base. Yet they also face hurdles.

One of the biggest is national disdain. Polls traditionally show Americans hold members of Congress -- except their own -- in low esteem, often scorning them as Washington insiders.

But as James Thurber, head of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, explains: "After they've served in Congress and been involved in high-level negotiations and met the president, they figure they are as good as the guy across the table.

"They have an insatiable demand for public service and when they see an opening, they go for it," Thurber said. "They were born this way."

In addition to Hatch, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Representative John Kasich of Ohio also ran for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination that then-Texas Governor George W. Bush won.

Ten Democrats are now vying for their party's presidential nomination and the right to challenge President George W. Bush in next year's general election.

The six US lawmakers in this field include: senators John Kerry of Massachusetts, John Edwards of North Carolina, Bob Graham of Florida and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut along with representatives Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

"They are not historians and they don't believe in history," said Stephen Wayne, a government professor at Georgetown University who has written extensively about White House campaigns.

"They have a sense of importance and think other people think they are important," he said.

Howard Dean, a doctor and a former governor of a small state, Vermont, emerged as an early front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. And retired four-star General Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander and political newcomer, rose quickly in the polls with his late entry.

Dean's bid has been somewhat reminiscent of the victorious White House runs in 1976, 1980 and 1992 by Jimmy Carter of Georgia, Ronald Reagan of California and Bill Clinton of Arkansas, who, like Bush, had served as governors.

Governors have advantages over members of Congress. As heads of states, they have a record showing what they can do when in charge. Lawmakers' duties are generally confined to proposing and acting on legislation, and cheering or jeering the White House.

Also, US lawmakers have a long voting record on a host of matters, from health care and foreign affairs, that can be used for them as well as against them.

In the 1996 campaign, then-president Clinton effectively bashed Republican challenger Dole for opposing in the 1960s creation of the Medicare health insurance programme for the elderly.

This year, Dean has scored big with Democrats opposed to the Iraq war by noting that Kerry, Lieberman, Gephardt and Edwards backed a congressional resolution authorizing it.

While no sitting member of Congress has won the White House in four decades, a few got there during this period after having served on Capitol Hill and as vice president -- Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Bush's father, George Bush.

At least two other US lawmakers considered running for the White House this year but decided to stay put -- Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, who made an earlier run in 1988.

Biden laughed when asked why so many members of Congress have run for the White House and failed while a number of governors have prevailed.

"Clinton had a good explanation," Biden said. "He told me, `Governors remember how to talk to real people.' He said, `You senators get to Washington and only talk to the elite.'"

Biden grinned and said: "Clinton might be right."
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