Liddy Dole does a Hillary

August 24, 2001 9:44 AM

Liddy Dole does a Hillary (or a Cheney)....registers in a state where she hasn't lived so she can run for office in that state.....now, granted, once upon a time Elizabeth Dole did live in North Carolina, but it was decades ago. Do you suppose the Republicans will cry out with the same moral outrage they did when Hillary decided to run for Senate? Can we all just accept that this stuff happens all the time on both sides (RFK, Bush the Elder, Hillary, Dickie C, and now Liddy)?
posted by briank (12 comments total)

Acceptance could be the the most dangerous thing we can do when confronted with political shenanigans like this. When we stop caring, we get exactly what we deserve. The same could be said about ignoring monopolisitic computer companies, intern-shagging congressmen and presidents who seek to buy their next election with a surplus that never existed in the first place. Stand up and be counted or count yourself out.
posted by dewelch at 10:28 AM on August 24, 2001

While I should rail against the double standards of lefty-leaning people criticizing Dole's move (but Hillary was okay, right?), I will just say that I think Liddy Dole is a better option than Jesse Helms, even if I don't like Republicans in general.
posted by msacheson at 10:46 AM on August 24, 2001

(Please don't show my grammar teacher that run-on sentence)
posted by msacheson at 10:47 AM on August 24, 2001

You're missing the point, msacheson. Both sides are equally engaged in this particular game; the question really is "is it ever okay?"
posted by briank at 10:53 AM on August 24, 2001

Carpetbagging doesn't bother me. Political machines that decide the primary candidate well before the voice of the people is heard bother me. Why do we bother with primaries anymore? The American voter's attention span / patience is shorter than ever, and I think these machinations will backfire, not because of geographic artificiality, but from the layer of FUD created two years before the election.
posted by machaus at 10:54 AM on August 24, 2001

she was born and raised in north carolina. doesn't bother me a bit.
posted by techgnollogic at 11:05 AM on August 24, 2001

Liddy is a pretty astute carpetbagger, that's for sure. An article I read in yesterday's paper (not online) mentioned that she's spent at least one holiday and several weekends per year in North Carolina, keeping in touch with all the local civic groups, all her old friends, etc. Oh, and the reason she was there was to visit her mother so...

There are definitely degrees of carpet baggin, but opportunity is a big factor of politics.
posted by cell divide at 11:10 AM on August 24, 2001

briank, to answer your question, I don't agree with carpet-bagging such as this and Hillary Clinton.
posted by msacheson at 11:33 AM on August 24, 2001

Can't we just bring back the aristocracy and have done with all this "democracy" stuff? The aristocrats have to turn cartwheels to get around the bullshit rules, and the citizenry apparently has better things to worry about.
posted by UncleFes at 11:56 AM on August 24, 2001

Can't we just bring back the aristocracy

Uh, isn't that what we have in Congress already?

Anyway...the deal is that the state legislatures are responsible for saying "OK, here's how long you have to live here before you can run for office." The US Constitution only says that you have to live there, it doesn't say squat about how long. Don't know where in NC State Code you can find this but it's gotta be there someplace.

Cell divide is right in saying that "opportunity is a big factor" - why do ya think Hillary ran in NY rather than AR? But if you want to decrease opportunity, you have to vote for state legislators who are in favor of increasing the residency period. But then, who votes these days anyway??
posted by PeteyStock at 12:16 PM on August 24, 2001

Um, yeah, I'd say there's a large substantive difference here. On the one hand you have someone who was born and raised in a state and still maintains significant ties to it; on the other, someone who's never had any connection to the state and simply chooses it because it's available and easy to qualify.

I'm a Republican who doesn't much care for Liddy Dole (I thought she'd make a better running mate for Algore than for Dubya is someone wanted to offer her a spot last year), but it's really stretching it to try and draw an equivalence here. No-one would have made the carpetbagging argument had Hillary! made a run in Illinois (her home state) or even Arkansas (there were frequent suggestions on the Right that either would be appropriate).

Liddy Dole is almost as much of an authoritarian, do-it-my-way-or-get-the-hell-out type as Hillary! She does have a more impressive resume (two-time Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Red Cross - as opposed to powerful political wife), but neither is really Senator material.
posted by MuadDib at 12:51 PM on August 24, 2001

With her roots in the state, the carpetbagging issue is moot I'm afraid. Don't you think that having the wider perspective of both growing up in a state and maintaining close contacts, while also taking a look at what life is like elsewhere, is actually beneficial? Sure, she wouldn't think about it if Helms were 10 years younger, but that's just opportunity/fortune.

I would, however, consider Hillary a carpetbagger. But although I don't like her being senator of my state, it's up to the state voters to decide, and they went with her. So if somebody offers a proposal to tighten the eligibility restrictions in my state, I'll vote for it, but until then I'll keep quietly upset about Hillary but respectfully honor her electoral victory and right to serve.
posted by jamonit at 5:26 PM on August 24, 2001