news-record.com

BLOGS

Off the Record

Starting at the top

The big political news in North Carolina this week is that Kenneth Lewis announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

No, not Kenneth Lewis the embattled CEO of Bank of America.

The would-be senator is a 47-year-old lawyer who lives in Chapel Hill.

No doubt he's a very smart guy, having earned an undergraduate degree from Duke and a law degree from Harvard. And he might make a fine senator.

But I've got a problem with people who aim to start their career in politics at the level of U.S. Senate.

Look, I'd like to manage a baseball team. How about the Yankees?

Lewis' bid brings to mind the last smart, 40something Chapel Hill lawyer who ran for -- and won -- one of our U.S. Senate seats.

John Edwards didn't turn out to be the kind of person some voters thought when they elected him.

The mistake was understandable because he was glib and persuasive but had no record in public office to examine. Would he be faithful to his constituents, or pursue his own ambitions? Would be put North Carolina's interests first, or his? Those are questions you can answer by looking at a candidate's experience in lesser positions ... if he has any.

Being an effective lawyer isn't the same thing. Practicing law doesn't make you accountable to the public.

Kay Hagan was a state senator for 10 years before her election to the U.S. Senate last year. Richard Burr, whom Lewis wants to unseat, served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before his election to the Senate in 2004.

Sure, it's fair to challenge Burr's record. But a challenger ought to present a record of his own.

Lewis won't be alone in seeking the Democratic Party nomination to oppose the Republican Burr. Elaine Marshall appears to be in the race. She's been elected four times as North Carolina's secretary of state, and she served one term in the state Senate. Those credentials give her a big advantage over Lewis, in my view.

Of course, voters make their choices for all sorts of reasons. If experience mattered most, John McCain would be president and Barack Obama still would be a rookie senator from Illinois.

But to my way of thinking, electing someone who's never held a public office to a position as important as U.S. senator is taking a very big chance. Kenneth Lewis would have a tough job of convincing me otherwise.

Permalink

Posted by Doug Clark on Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 8:23 am

This article has been closed to new comments. Comments are generally closed after 14 days. However, comments may be closed earlier at the discretion of the News & Record.

Inappropriate content? Please report abuse.

Advertisement | Advertise with Us

Dogwood

October 22, 2009 - 12:22 pm EDT

Maybe Kenneth Lewis has $6 millon personal wealth to spend. Edwards spent his own money to buy his senate seat. Today, Edwards has a new 6 milllion dollar baby to support. I just hope voters are wiser than to buy an ego.

Connie Mack Jr

October 22, 2009 - 1:15 pm EDT

I had no idea that the Consitution of the United States said one must move up in the political ranks by holding other political offices to prove they are superior to others in seeking political office.. Ask yourself one question! former Senator Liddy Dole never held a elected office in her life until she found out she was from North Carolina..

Doug

October 22, 2009 - 1:28 pm EDT

That's not a question.

But on the subject of Dole, she had held two Cabinet posts. Not by election, true, but those were public offices requiring Senate confirmation. The voters knew her very well. Unfortunately, she didn't live up to expectations.

A better example on the GOP side was John East, a professor at ECU who was put up as a Senate candidate by the Helms organization in 1980. He turned out to be a lackluster senator, and he died before completing his term.

Helms himself was elected in 1972 even though he had never held elective office. But his views were well known to the public because of his years of TV commentaries.