The Politico: 2008 Field Sprouts Rootless Candidates
By: Jonathan Martin
February 8, 2007
The 2008 presidential campaign has already produced the next generation of American politicians. They don't have local accents. That's because they don't have local roots. Nor do they boast legions of home-state friends, teachers and mentors who have spent years waiting for the proud day when their talented native son or daughter would run for president....With the race still in its early stages, the top tier of contenders in both parties is filled with people who reflect a new brand of post-regional politics. These candidates convey no distinct sense of place in either their personal style or political base.
Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain are the prototype examples. In both cases, they represent states where they had scant personal history until they settled there to run for office.
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney also reflect the trend. The Illinois senator, vying with Clinton for the Democratic nomination, was born in Hawaii and raised there and in Indonesia before settling in Chicago after an Ivy League education in New York and Boston. Republican Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, grew up in Michigan, and established his national profile by running the Winter Olympic Games in Utah.
Not one of these major politicians represents the state where they grew up or have family history -- a new chapter in modern political history.
Among the first-rung candidates, only Democrat John Edwards of North Carolina and Republican Rudy Giuliani of New York are defined in the public mind vividly by where they are from. In both cases, these politicians have personal stories inextricably linked to their home states -- a fact amplified by thick and unmistakable regional accents....
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In an earlier era, a candidate without thick local roots would have been at a distinct disadvantage trying to climb onto a national stage without a base of regional supporters, fellow politicians and donors. These days, the opposite may be true: Politicians with a muted geographical identity may be better positioned to compete in parts of the country -- including fast-growing swing states like Nevada and Florida -- where most folks are originally from somewhere else....
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