Senate Candidates Wanted

New York Times: “The dearth of candidates for an open Senate seat reflects what former and current senators and those who once aspired to the office say is a sad truth: rarely has the thought of serving in the Senate seemed so unappealing.”

“Once considered an apex of national politics second only to the presidency, the ‘greatest deliberative body in the world’ is so riven by partisanship and gummed up by its own arcane rules that potential candidates from Georgia to Kentucky, Iowa to Montana are loudly saying, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.'”

“Add to that the cost of getting there — which can include fighting off special interests and ‘super PACs’ from your own party, exhausting criticism from the increasingly partisan news media, and prohibitive campaign expenses — and a Senate seat no longer seems so grand.”