LA Times: Presidential Ambitions Distract Senate

Eleven senators have said they're considering a White House bid. That makes it tough to build consensus. And who gets the microphone?

By Janet Hook, Times Staff Writer
June 18, 2006


WASHINGTON — The day a local newspaper reported that Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut was thinking of running for president, he had an awkward encounter in the basement of the Capitol with another Democrat, a friend from Massachusetts he might have to battle for the job: Sen. John F. Kerry.

But Kerry, who was the Democrats' 2004 nominee and is pondering another presidential bid, was a good sport and welcomed his colleague into a growing fraternity. "The more the merrier!" Kerry said.

That's what it's like these days in the Senate. There are so many lawmakers considering a run for president that they are practically tripping over each other. The outbreak of ambition adds an "every man for himself" dynamic to an institution that is already struggling to build consensus on important issues such as how to combat illegal immigration and high gas prices.

The Senate has always been an incubator for presidential aspirations, but the bug is now especially widespread. No fewer than eleven senators have announced they are considering a presidential bid.

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