Is America's political 'nobility' undemocratic?

Tom Curry National affairs writer • Profile • E-mail

WASHINGTON - “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States,” reads Article I of the Constitution.

Yet with their fondness for political dynasties, American voters have created their own notion of modern nobility: families such as the Kennedys, the Rockefellers, the Bushes, and the Bidens who win political office generation after generation.

Eleven current members of the Senate are the children of former senators or governors, or the spouses of former senators, governors, and even a president.

Then there's Jeb Bush. He is the former governor of Florida and the grandson of former Connecticut Sen. Prescott Bush. He's also the son of one president, the brother of another, and the Republican front-runner for the Senate seat which Sen. Mel Martinez is giving up in 2010.

A Delaware 'seat warmer'?
Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner recently named Ted Kaufman, an adviser to Joe Biden, to fill the vice president-elect's Senate seat until a 2010 special election.

Some observers believe Kaufman is keeping the seat warm for Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, Joe Biden's son, should he decide to run in 2010.

There may be another political dynasty in the making in Colorado.

President-elect Barack Obama is expected Wednesday to nominate Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., to serve as Interior Secretary, creating an opening for Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter to appoint Salazar’s brother Rep. John Salazar to the vacant seat.

Video   Kerry Kennedy Dec. 16: MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell interviews Kerry Kennedy about her cousin Caroline's interest in the N.Y. Senate seat. MSNBC

And Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the slain President John F. Kennedy and the niece of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., is running a campaign to persuade New York Gov. David Paterson to appoint her to the seat to be vacated by Sen. Hillary Clinton, if the Senate confirms her as secretary of state.  And Gov. Paterson is himself the son of a powerful New York politician.

If Paterson were to hand the job to Caroline Kennedy, she'd be the seventh member of her family to serve in Congress, joining a roster which includes two of her uncles, two of her cousins, her father, and her great-grandfather, John F. Fitzgerald, who first went to Congress in 1895.

The Constitution’s ban on titles of nobility (and, thus, on nobility itself) is “the corner-stone of republican government,” said Alexander Hamilton. And by “republican government,” he meant representative government, as in, people electing their leaders.

As long as nobles are excluded from government, he said, “There can never be serious danger that the government will be any other than that of the people.”

But again and again “the people” have shown a preference for names they know.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., recruited Pennsylvania State Auditor Bob Casey, Jr. to run for the Senate in 2006 partly because Casey’s father had served as governor and “Casey” was a potent brand name in the state.

To some degree, dynastic politics may not be so different from Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. learning baseball from his father, Baltimore Orioles coach Cal Ripken, Sr.

Senatorial children often learn some of their political skills through observation and osmosis.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., was greatly influenced by his father, Sen. Thomas Dodd, who had been a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Nazi war crime tribunal before his turn on Capitol Hill.

Dodd published a book last year, "Letters from Nuremberg: My Father's Narrative of a Quest for Justice," and often referred to his father on the campaign trail last year when he sought the Democratic presidential nomination.

MORE FROM CAPITOL HILL

Capitol Hill Section Front

It's a waiting game for Nelson on health care Lieberman supported Medicare expansion Congress readies defense budget   Senate Dems may scrap Medicare expansion Senate passes $1.1 trillion spending bill Bipartisan budget group: Deficit curbs needed Medicare buy-in plan runs into resistance GOP targets climate pact in weekly address House passes historic financial rules revamp Jobless benefits attached to war funding bill Capitol Hill Section Front   Add Capitol Hill headlines to your news reader: