…for US voters, what do you think of political dynasty?
By jeanneyvonne
@jeanneyvonne (5501)
Philippines
March 9, 2013 12:53am CST
Americans already voted last November for their election but for my country, we’re gearing towards the mid-term elections. The roster of candidates is somewhat predictable – people with famous surnames or reoccurring candidates. Here in Phils, we have a trend called ‘political dynasty’. To explain, it is a practice among political families to run for office and encourage family or friends to run for the office they vacated while aiming for a higher position. For explain, Candidates A served the maximum of three terms and he’s not eligible for the seat anymore. To fill the post, he asks wife, sister, mother, father, son or daughter to fill his pace and they campaign together. Would this be possible in the US?
3 responses
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
9 Mar 13
Yes, dynasties are huge in this country. People only think about recent dynasties like the Kennedys and Clintons, but you'll see much older names than that if you look back 100-200 years. Senator Richard Burr is actually related to Aaron Burr a vice president in the early 1800's.
The act of using family members is common as well. Congressman Edwards of New Jersey used his wife as a placeholder, running for his seat in congress when he ran for the Senate. After losing his senate run, his wife dropped out of the race and he took her place, running for his seat in congress again.
@sierras236 (2739)
• United States
9 Mar 13
Yes, it is quite possible. Like another poster said, the Kennedy legacy comes to mind. There has been a Kennedy in some sort of public office for quite awhile.
Then there is the Bush family who has a huge family involvement in politics. Two of them were Presidents and a third is looking at a 2016 Presidential run.
@jeanneyvonne (5501)
• Philippines
11 Mar 13
Kennedy is quite the famous name especially when it comes to politics. I guess by any standard, they are the political family. I guess if John Kennedy has not been assassinated, it might still be the same course. Anyway, I haven't heard of any Kennedy running for any office in your country. Regarding the bush family, I guess it will have to be the younger brother. It will be interesting to see if that presidential aspiration will come.
@crossbones27 (49444)
• Mojave, California
9 Mar 13
Its possible. You have the Bush's We also had the Kennedy's. You had and hopefully will have the Clinton's, some may think that is not a dynasty, but to me a dynasty is more than one family member serving in office. Hell you even have the Paul's Rand and Ron Paul. You have the Biden's. Maybe one day we will have the Obama's. Its definitely possible to have a political dynasty in the US. The question some people have is, are these dynasties good for the nation? I say if they help the country then, yes. It can be bad though in the terms that we start electing people because we think they have good genes and not their solutions to actually solving real problems.
@jeanneyvonne (5501)
• Philippines
11 Mar 13
well, I don't know about the Clinton. I think that the former senator and first lady might run but it depends on the political atmosphere in your country.most likely, she'll run under the Democratic Party and we'll know if Americans still trust the democrats after Obama.
I guess in a sense, US voters always vote for the individual not always the party. I guess that why you have swing states when you're having an election. Here, we vote for the individual too but usually a candidate has more chance if they have a political surname.
