Given the fascinating twists and turns of the current election season, only a foreign-exchange student just off the plane would hazard a prediction about this Nov. 4 presidential balloting.
But one thing looks certain: This will be the first presidential election in the nation's history pitting two sitting U.S. senators against each other.
Americans haven't been very receptive to legislators becoming the nation's chief executive.
Only two sitting senators --
Not counting the current contest, in the 48 years since Kennedy's election, Schmuhl's research shows 40 senators have sought the presidency. And 40 didn't get it.
Americans have revealed some other preferences in their presidential voting: They like chief executives; four of the last five presidents have been governors, which is what gave hope to
Over the last three decades, Americans have preferred to elect what Schmuhl calls "outsiders" and "opposites" to go to Washington, not insiders to stay there.
Yet this time, all three of the remaining candidates are "from" Washington. So which one will be seen as less Washington?
Freshman Illinois Sen.
History also suggests that this year's winner will be perceived as occupying a central position on the political spectrum, with the ability to attract votes from the opposite party.
In a recent Wall Street Journal column, former top White House advisor Karl Rove examined three recent sets of polls including The Times/Bloomberg poll. And though some recent published stories have examined the number of "Obamicans" -- Republicans attracted to vote for Obama -- Rove found that the figures actually reveal the existence of what he calls "McCainicrats." And not just Connecticut Sen.
