Senate's Long Losing Streak on Presidency Could Be Near an End
With the unexpected withdrawal of Republican Mitt Romney from the
presidential race, the likelihood of a sitting United States senator going straight from
Congress to the presidency appears very strong. Chances are that Republican Senator
John McCain will face either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama, both
Democratic Senators, in the upcoming 2008 presidential election
Almost 50 U.S. senators have run for the nation's highest office, but only Bob
Dole, Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, John Kerry and John F. Kennedy won their
respective party's nomination. The last time that a sitting U.S. senator won the
presidency was in 1960, when John F, Kennedy defeated former Senator Richard M.
Nixon. Never before have two sitting U.S. senators faced each other head-to-head in the
final presidential election race. Previously, the only female senator to run for her party's
nomination was Margaret Chase Smith in 1964.
Senatorial experience and media exposure have always been considered
distinct advantages among presidential candidates, and in that regard, Senator Clinton is
the first serious female contender, running on her eight years experience in the white
house during President Bill Clinton's tenure as President, as well. Senator McCain is a
highly decorated war hero and Vietnam veteran with even more experience in
government, and a reputation for integrity built on his previous efforts to eliminate
questionable campaign funding practices and government waste of federal funds over
Senator Obama is the least experienced of the three senators, with only one term
under his belt, but is considered a strong candidate who represents change as one of the
themes of his platform; he is also the first African Amer
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