From: Pete BEAULIEU ('62)

Sandstorm Extra that might be political

Re: Political ? Extra

Re: Senators and stuff

To: Ed WOOD ('62)

You ask the question: "So what caused six-year senators to start
acting like two-year Representatives? Was that the 17th
Amendment?" I think not. 

The 17th Amendment (1913) provides that senators will serve for
six years. This longer term of office was supposed to serve in
part as a check (not a blank check!) on the appetites of
representatives with shorter two-year terms.

To answer your question, and at great risk of tarnishing two
idols of Washington state, I do wonder if the trigger event was
the perfect storm of President Johnson's slushy Great Society in
the mid-sixties, significantly combined with the enormous
influence of the two senior senators from our fine state--"
Scoop" Jackson and Warren Magnusen. For whatever good they did
(and they did do good), no one here has ever accused them of not
bringing home the bacon (acting like two-year representatives
intent on immediate re-election). I propose that their success at
the sausage factory played a big part in setting the tone for the
political culture on the Hill ever since.

-Pete BEAULIEU ('62)
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