A few years as governor would boost senator's presidential aspirations
A few random observations for a Sunday morning. Not a single vote has been cast, but the political pundits are talking about the inevitability of a Hillary Clinton nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate. Let's forgo a debate on her various vulnerabilities, Barack Obama's celebrated strengths and the many uncertainties of primary politics, and accept it as true for the moment. The question then becomes: What's next for Obama?
He could return to full-time work in the U.S. Senate. But history tells us that the longer a politician stays in the Senate, the bigger resume of votes he accumulates that can be turned against him in a national political campaign. Even if Clinton were elected president, the fact remains that Capitol Hill has not been as successful a launching pad for presidential aspirations as state capitals.
So perhaps Obama might think about directing his attention toward Springfield and run for governor in 2010. Gov. Blagojevich's scorched-earth policy there has alienated Democratic and Republican legislators alike, and a couple more years of the chaos we witnessed this year will have voters eager to embrace a leader at least capable of working harmoniously with his own party.
A few years running the state would give Obama the kind of executive seasoning that the electorate likes to see in candidates for president. It's a lack of experience that has been perceived as the Achilles' heel of his White House bid.
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