running with the devil

By Todd Stadler · Wednesday, August 22, 2001 5:59pm

I can't tell if I'm intrigued or appalled with the latest news that Elizabeth Dole may run for the Senate, hoping to fill Jesse Helms' seat.

As usual with American politics, the answer is likely: I'm both.

Assuming "Libby" runs, this will be the second recent case of a high-profile person (oddly, in both cases, the previously unelected wife of a major politician) changing her voter registration to a state where she doesn't live in order to win an elected position.

Politics reminds me more and more of professional sports. Not that they're both spectator events with a lot of pointless posturing. No, it's the free agent model I'm thinking of - no one seems to care where they're from or what their background is. If they're perceived as powerful and can do good for wherever they just moved to, then they're more than welcome to represent that place.

And of course, these carpetbaggers are always perceived as powerful because they're famous. More importantly, they're married to famous political power. So who cares what they know about the state, as long as they can bring home the bacon.

But then, I suppose that getting their constituents what they want is what good senators do. I just don't like that the two political parties try to pretend that it's about anything except getting more power for themselves, playing the American people as pawns in their little game.

But then, that's not exactly news.

And, sure, Mrs. Dole is from North Carolina, and I'm sure she knows as much about the state as she needs to, and so on. But it doesn't make me feel any better about all this.