This isn't a new question. People have been asking this question for decades with regard to the political dynasties of American families. We, California's 52th district.. have a local example of the beginnings of one of these dynasties. It is the inheritance of a Congressional seat by Duncan Hunter Jr. (who, because of redistricting, will be repping the 50th district). Duncan senior was essentially the districts congressman from 1981 to 2007, but this position was passed down a couple years ago to his son... of the same name.
This exchange of seats was so well portrayed in the 1992 Eddie Murphy movie "The Distinguish Gentleman," where Murphy's character, a Florida man uses the passing of the long time Congressman from his district who he just happens to share a name with, to get elected to his version of paradise.., Congress, where the money flows from lobbyists. And his campaign slogan, Vote for Johnson... The name you know!
And there you have it. The name you know. A 32-year-old with mostly military service experience gets into Congress, because...? Of his yrs of collective experience? Uh no. Probably, because most of the people voting for him, thought they were voting for his father. You know, the guy with decades of experience.
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As an aside, I find interesting all the committees Jr is on. Primarily, the Armed Services Committee, same as his father. How easy is it for freshman congressmen to be appointed to this extraordinarily powerful committee, if their father hadn’t been the previous chair?
For me, it just shows the level of influence. (What’s it called when you get preferential familial favoritism? Oh yeah, nepotism.)
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So my question:
Should we vote for someone because his name is what we are familiar with? Should a seat in Congress be a family heirloom, getting handed down father to son for generations? Shouldn’t we base our vote on whether or not that individual has had sufficient life experience, and won’t be a puppet for the machine? What do you think?
