Jack Cafferty on CNN today brought up the issue of political dynasties, declaring that having different generations of a political family in office is a bad thing for democracy.
I beg to disagree, as it is always up to the voters IF they want the relatives and offspring of political leaders to be in public office. They may have an edge in name recognition, but they also have a need to prove via their statements, actions and records that they deserve to be in public office. It is not as if these seekers win the seats by default, and often, they have failed to accomplish the goal of winning the election.
When one looks at the past, one can think of the Adamses, the Lodges, the Harrisons, the LaFollettes, the Tafts, the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, the Rockefellers, the Bushes, and the Clintons as the most outstanding examples of so called “dynasties”, and I would argue that despite some controversy, all of these families contributed much to American history.
So if there are people related to Jimmy Carter, Harry Reid, Dennis Hastert, Ron Paul, Joe Biden and others running for public office, all the best of luck as you attempt to convince the voting public as to your right to represent them in government!