Ted Kennedy’s passing has again reminded us — if we needed reminding — of how many career politicians currently inhabit Washington.
Kennedy was sworn into the Senate in 1962. He served nine terms, nearly half a century, in that body. Robert Byrd has been in the Senate since 1959, making this year his half-century mark.
The habit of pols getting and then keeping power until they pass away is not peculiar to one party, either. Strom Thurmond, first elected to the Senate in 1954, was the only Senator to reach over 100 while still in office.
Am I saying there is something wrong with a lawmaker serving half-a-century in the same office? Yes, I am. Such an entrenched incumbent can’t help but breed corruption, in small ways if not in large. We need fresh faces, often.
And this also applies to politicians who are more aligned with my own beliefs. Unfortunately, corruption is blind to party or ideological affiliation. It tends to follow concentrated power more than anything else. Not to say that all long-serving pols are self-serving, but it increases the likelihood.
