Incumbent John Sununu (yes, the son of the brilliant and irritating John Sununu who was Reagan's Chief of Staff) is gaining on Ex-Gov Jeanne Shaheen in the NH Senatorial race, after having been quite a bit behind all year. NH has become a blue state over the last two decades.
John could use a Vice Senatorial candidate who hunts caribou, I think.
In all seriousness, it's a damn shame. There are very few people in the US Senate who understand any science at all, but Sununu has a Masters in Engineering from MIT. Shaheen is a cipher, a pleasant woman who was an ineffective governor.
I'm going to go find out what US Senators did before becoming politicians. I figure that lawyers will predominate, with a few businesspersons.
I know that the Republicans have two physicians and the Democrats have two social workers. We'll see what else is there.
MD versus social worker ! Says something about the two parties,does it not?
ReplyDeleteI believe that Ron Dellums, current Oakland mayor and longtime US Representative from the East Bay, was a social worker at one time. No surprise that his foreign policy aligned more with Maurice Bishop and Fidel than it did with the US.
We can review recent history with NH senators. Gregg is a lawyer. The infamous Durkin v. Wyman election of 1974 pitted two barristers against each other with Durkin winning in the end. That was to fill Norris Cotton's seat, but I don't know what he did for a living (I looked it up - he was a teacher and then a lawyer). Bob Smith was a realtor before moving to Washington. Senator McIntyre, who spoke at my high school graduation, was also a lawyer. Oh, I almost forgot Senator Humphrey (easily forgotten). He was a pilot.
ReplyDeleteIf we look to the south, Kennedy has been a senator for so long I don't think he ever practiced law but he did go to law school as did Kerry. Tsongas - a lawyer, too. He defeated Ed Brooke, who was also a lawyer. Seems like it is a prerequisite in that state.
So, your working premise should prove true nationwide. I'll look forward to your findings.