| MPR cited a curious statistic during its morning show today: Minnesota now has the most living former U.S. Senators of any state in the country.
(Bonus points if you can identify them all...)
It's a curiosity that means ... not a whole lot, on its face. Dig a bit deeper, however, and it means that Minnesota is way down the seniority list in the Senate, something that materially and negatively affects our state's influence in the World's Most Exclusive Club.
It's also going to be a great argument for Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken in their likely reelection bids in 2012 and 2014, respectively.
This article has a pretty good run-down on how Senate seniority works. Currently, Klobuchar is 81st and Al Franken is 100th, thanks to the legal roadblocks thrown by Team Coleman that extended Franken's limbo past several appointments to open seats. It doesn't take too much work to figure out that Minnesota's average seniority of 90.5 puts it firmly in the bottom tier, leaving us without senior Senators to guide debate and legislation in ways that favor Minnesotan attitudes and priorities. Among states with at least one Senator at or below Amy Klobuchar's seniority level...
Colorado (Udall + Bennett): 92.5
Minnesota (Klobuchar + Franken): 90.5
Virginia (Webb + Warner): 85.0
North Carolina (Burr + Hagan): 80.0
Alaska (Murkowski + Begich): 77.5
Delaware (Carper + Kaufman): 76.0
Nebraska (Nelson + Johanns): 74.0
New York (Schumer + Gillibrand): 73.5
Idaho (Crapo + Risch): 71.0
Illinois (Durbin + Burris): 68.5
Oregon (Wyden + Merkley): 66.0
Wyoming (Enzi + Barrasso): 66.0
Rhode Island (Reed + Whitehouse): 63.0
New Hampshire (Gregg + Shaheen): 60.0
New Mexico (Bingaman + Udall): 50.5
Mississippi (Cochrane + Wicker): 47.0
Montana (Baucus + Tester): 45.5
In this list, it's not good to be near the top. Only in Colorado, where Michael Bennett was appointed to replace Ken Salazar, is the state's senior Senator at or below Klobuchar's seniority level.
There are a couple of cross-cutting concerns going on in that list, however. At once, many states with at least one senior Senator are small states (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming) and it's possible that their electorates recognize that without large House delegations, the Senate is their only chance to gain influence in Washington -- thus, seniority matters, as much as (if not more than) ideological arguments over policy and values. But many of those small states are also fairly homogenous, ideologically speaking, making it easier for Senators to avoid getting swept up in wave years like 1994, 2006, or 2008.
Unfortunately, Minnesota is caught in the middle of that calculus -- medium-size state with a fairly competitive, if slightly left-leaning, political climate. Ditto Colorado, for the most part, although Colorado has been trending blue more rapidly than many states in our size bracket.
All this means that Klobuchar and Franken are going to have an extra tool in their belts when it comes time for their reelection races -- America needs Minnesotan leadership, and that means sticking with Senators who are (hopefully) doing a good job for our state. |
