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Senate experience wins debates
From the department of So What? comes evidence that legislators might talk a good game when running for president, but over the years, voters’ clear preference is for proven executives.
In my last piece about executive experience, I noted that it seemed like candidates with experience running things, like cities, have a leg up on politicians that come to the game as legislators. Guys like Mike Bloomberg and Pete Buttigieg were mayors, and importantly Bloomberg ran New York, a city bigger by population that 40 of the 50 US states. Even Donald Trump, who ran what has to be called a mom and pop real estate company — on steroids, admittedly — had the executive experience and bearing to win the presidency. And say what you want about Bernie Sanders, he cut his political teeth running the thriving metropolis of Burlington, VT. And we all know about Mayor Pete.
Being chief executive gives you a certain perspective. Unlike all the other jobs in politics, the executive has to get things done, not by committee and sometimes by brute force. The Executive branch of government is full of executives called department secretaries. They have massive responsibilities for specialized parts of government. They are approved by the Senate and report to the President who has the ability to terminate them without cause. So the president is really the executive of executives. It’s a…
