"Half a re-alignment" : Part 1 of 3 - The Senate

[pbrower2a]

So how does someone hold onto an 'un-natural' Senate seat?

1. Be around for a time -- a very long time. Incumbency aids any competent politician who can use his power as a legislator to bring home the pork-barrel spending and get government activity relocated into one's state. Look at Robert Byrd.

2. Be effective. That goes without saying.

3. Buck the Party as necessary. Don't put partisan loyalty above the sentiments and economic interests of one's state. GOP moderates like Chaffee in Rhode Island, Snowe and Collins in Maine, and Smith in Oregon are throwbacks to the time when the GOP dominated their region -- and are still around or were around for a long time. Democratic Senators in Arkansas, the Dakotas, and Nebraska are much more conservative than their Parties.


How to be a one-term Senator:

1. Be a partisan hack in a state that isn't particularly liberal or conservative. Pennsylvania is a prime example: ultra-liberals and ultra-conservatives alike fail there in statewide elections. A GOP hack can get away with it in Oklahoma and a Democratic hack can get away with it in Massachusetts... just don't try it in Ohio.

2. Fall short of the usual expectations.