I was watching a program on the History Channel about the Kennedy family, and during the show they talked about how the Kennedys were criticized in elections for using their family connections to get places in politics.
Whether this criticism is warranted is up to you, but how much do family connections, or connections in general, play into politics? Do those who know other have a natural advantage? The answer to this is of course so, but does it give an unfair advantage to other candidates? Is it skill or connections that matter most?
For example, Hillary Clinton ran for the Senate people felt that she used her husband as a way to win the election, and same could be true with her candidacy today.
Does someone without political connections even have a shot at winning an election today?
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4 comments:
I think that it makes complete sense that political success often runs in families. Working in politics is all about who you know and what kind of connections you are able to make and keep. Some of this is innate people skills, but if famous politicians are always coming around for dinner, well, that's got to be a huge advantage.
Look at John Edwards. Prior to his Senate career, he was an unknown in the political world. Yes, it takes a good relationship with a skilled campaign advisor and charisma to get ahead. But family ties sometimes have nothing to do with it.
duh. of course political relationships are a HUGE advantage. If people like person A, whose friend person B is running for election, of course the people will support person A's support of person B. As the saying goes, "A friend of my friend is my friend."
There's that saying, "It's not what you know, it's who you know." That is so often true that it can be extremely unfair to people who are new to politics. Ideally, we like to think that if they work hard enough and if they're good enough people and if they're good for the job then they'll be elected, but that's not always true. Life's not always fair, and it sucks but there's really nothing to be done about it.
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