Presidential Ambitions Distract Senate

The day a local newspaper reported that Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut was thinking of running for president, he had an awkward encounter in the basement of the Capitol with another Democrat, a friend from Massachusetts he might have to battle for the job: Sen. John F. Kerry.

But Kerry, who was the Democrats’ 2004 nominee and is pondering another presidential bid, was a good sport and welcomed his colleague into a growing fraternity. “The more the merrier!” Kerry said.

That’s what it’s like these days in the Senate. There are so many lawmakers considering a run for president that they are practically tripping over each other. The outbreak of ambition adds an “every man for himself” dynamic to an institution that is already struggling to build consensus on important issues such as how to combat illegal immigration and high gas prices.

The Senate has always been an incubator for presidential aspirations, but the bug is now especially widespread. No fewer than eleven senators have announced they are considering a presidential bid.

The stampede shows how much both political parties are in a state of transition. Because neither party has an uncontested heir apparent for the 2008 election, there is little to discourage senators who, as a group, have famously high opinions of themselves.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) jokes that he is one of the “designated drivers” of the Senate because he is not running for president.

“We are driving the Senate while so many of our colleagues are intoxicated with the idea of being president,” Durbin said.

The wave of ambition is taking a toll. Critics say the political self-interest of would-be candidates sometimes conflicts with the broader interests of their party and the Senate as a whole.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has come under particularly pointed criticism from colleagues who say he is using the Senate to advance his presidential prospects.

He is accused of trying to curry favor with conservative activists he would need if he runs for president by stacking the agenda with right-wing priorities that have no chance of becoming law, such as a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, which was rejected, and another to outlaw flag burning, which is scheduled for a vote this month.

“He’s just checking off the boxes,” Durbin said.

But Frist is not alone in eyeing higher office. Other Republicans with presidential hopes include Sens. John McCain of Arizona, George Allen of Virginia, Sam Brownback of Kansas and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. Democrats thinking about the White House, in addition to Kerry and Dodd, include Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Evan Bayh of Indiana, Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin. Some Democrats are hoping that Barack Obama of Illinois will also join the fray.

Some analysts say that the proliferation of presidential aspirants contributes to Senate polarization. As presidential hopefuls anticipate facing primary-election voters two years hence, they are under pressure to hew to the orthodoxy of their party’s base.

“When you are running for president, you have a tendency in either party to play to the base,” said Steve Elmendorf, who was a senior aide to Kerry’s campaign in 2004 and, earlier, to former Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). “It draws the institution into those extremes.”

That is why it is hardly surprising that all the Democratic presidential hopefuls voted against the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and that all GOP presidential candidates but one voted for it. The GOP exception was McCain, who has built his career on a record of defying party orthodoxy.

But even McCain has tacked to the right as he lays the groundwork for a possible presidential bid.

Having opposed President Bush’s tax cuts in the past, he recently voted to extend several that were about to expire. He voted to allow Senate debate on a permanent repeal of the estate tax -- a crucial procedural vote -- although he still opposes the repeal bill itself.

The pressures are particularly intense for congressional leaders who are expected to drive the agenda for the whole party, not just for themselves. Rather than juggle the two roles, Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) quit the Senate in mid-1996 after he clinched his party’s presidential nomination.

While Frist faces the most intense scrutiny, other potential candidates can put colleagues in an awkward position, especially if they buck strategies laid out by party leaders. At a time when many other Democrats believed it was fruitless -- and politically damaging -- to try to block a vote on Bush’s nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court, Kerry led an unsuccessful filibuster. That pleased liberals but was seen as presidential grandstanding by some of his colleagues.

Fellow Democrats cringed when Feingold recently called for the censure of Bush for approving a domestic wiretapping program, fearing it would fuel Republican charges that their party had no stomach for a tough war on terrorism. Most Senate Democrats were at pains to distance themselves from Feingold. But left-wing activists, likely key to a Feingold presidential bid, were delighted.

Likely GOP contenders have carved out different niches in Congress’ immigration debate, foiling leaders’ hopes of closing ranks on the issue.

Two potential candidates, McCain and Brownback, have championed a broad immigration bill that the majority of Senate Republicans oppose because it would provide a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. That makes it harder for Congress to pass the simpler immigration bill favored by most Republicans, one that would only crack down on illegal immigrants by improving border security and law enforcement.

“It’s hard enough to keep all our ducks in a row when it isn’t a presidential cycle, but it’s even harder when you have not one, not two, but four potential candidates,” said a senior Senate Republican aide, who asked not to be named in order to speak freely about party matters. “Everyone is thinking about the next year and a half. This is a defining moment for all the individuals running for president: ‘How do I position myself?’ ”

The presumed calculations can undermine the credibility of what they do, even if it is not motivated by politics.

“Everything Bill Frist does, people speculate,” said Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.). “The same thing with John McCain. It’s not a good thing. It complicates life in the Senate.”

Frist’s press secretary, Amy Call, said he “focuses each and every day on doing the right thing for the country.”

On some issues, potential candidates are using their Senate platform not just to cater to their base but to broaden their appeal.

So, for example, Clinton has tried to modify her image as a liberal icon by cosponsoring many bills with extremely conservative Republicans -- including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who led the drive to impeach her husband, Bill Clinton, while he was president.

Hagel is a solidly conservative Republican, but he has put considerable distance between himself and the Bush White House by criticizing the conduct of the Iraq war.

Bayh is a moderate Democrat who supported the Iraq war, but in January he joined a small group of liberals in voting against the nomination of Condoleezza Rice to be secretary of State.

He had voted to repeal the estate tax, but last week he joined the party’s liberal majority in supporting continuation of the tax, saying the government could not afford the tax break at a time of big budget deficits.

The competition among potential candidates can complicate matters as simple as party leaders’ choice of a spokesman on a particular issue -- a public relations opportunity for any senator looking to increase his or her national profile.

“Leadership has to balance whether we send them out to talk about an issue,” said a senior Democratic aide, who asked not to be named when discussing party deliberations. “Every time you send one of them out, the other five or six of them have some kind of tantrum, especially if it’s a core Democratic issue that speaks to the base.”

Although so many senators are lining up for a presidential run, many analysts think the Senate is not a very good launching pad for a White House bid.

As Kerry’s unsuccessful campaign illustrated, senators’ long record of votes and speeches can be used against them on the campaign trail. Only two sitting senators have been elected president in U.S. history: Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy.

When that was pointed out recently to Bayh, who served as governor of Indiana, he quipped: “You think you’ve got a United States senator here today? You’ve got a two-term, successful governor with national security experience here.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Senators considering a presidential campaign

***

Republicans:

***

George Allen

Virginia

A favorite of some conservatives for 2008, but first has to fight to win reelection to the Senate in 2006.

Sam Brownback

Kansas

Very close to religious conservatives, having built his Senate career around issues they care most about, such as opposing abortion and stem-cell research.

Bill Frist

Tennessee

Senate majority leader. Plans to leave the Senate after 2008. Courting the party’s conservative wing by promoting Bush’s judges, constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Chuck Hagel

Nebraska

Conservative with an independent streak. Has been critical of the administration’s handling of Iraq war.

John McCain

Arizona

Lost GOP presidential nomination to Bush in 2000. Now trying to blunt charges that he’s not conservative enough to win the nomination.

***

Democrats:

***

Evan Bayh

Indiana

Moderate Democrat. Former two-term governor of Indiana. Supported Iraq war.

Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Delaware

Leading Democratic spokesman on foreign policy issues. Ran for president in 1988 but dropped out of race because of allegations he plagiarized a speech.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

New York

Widely seen as frontrunner because of strong fundraising ability. Faces easy path to reelection in 2006.

Christopher J. Dodd

Connecticut

Unabashed liberal, former Democratic Party chairman, in his fifth Senate term.

Russell D. Feingold

Wisconsin

Maverick who has called for censure of Bush for approving domestic wiretapping. Coauthor, with McCain, of landmark campaign finance law.

John F. Kerry

Massachusetts

Democrats’ unsuccessful presidential nominee in 2004, looking for a comeback.

Graphics reporting by Janet Hook