David Broder writes a tribute to political dynasties:

My favorite surviving dynasts are Mark and Tom Udall, the Democratic cousins just elected to the Senate from Colorado and New Mexico, respectively. They are the sons of Morris "Mo" Udall, the courageous and marvelously humorous congressman from Arizona, and his brother, Stewart, who left the House to become John Kennedy’s interior secretary — two of the best friends the environment and public lands have ever had.

That’s the kind of legacy we can always use.

You can’t keep people from political families from running for office and still call yourself a democracy, but progressives have good reason to be skeptical of them.   Glenn Greenwald has written about the anti-democratic threats posed by dynastic candidates.  Case in point — at the Senate Progressive Media Summit last week I videotaped Broder favorite Tom Udall, who had this to say about the last election:

TOM UDALL:  The Udalls are on the move, you know.  It’s two percent of the Senate. We’re — the only thing we’re sad about is our cousin, who was a Republican, Gordon Smith,  lost.  Gordon Smith from Oregon, Senator from Oregon.  Merkeley beat him here.  But you know, but Gordon was a bipartisan Republican who would have worked with us.  Anyway, and his mom was a Udall.

Jeff Merkely will probably wind up being one of the most progressive members of the Senate.  Gordon Smith, on the other hand, voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time.   Here’s what Environment Oregon had to say about his commitment to the Broderian values of environmentalism and public land use:

U.S. Senator Gordon Smith has sided with oil companies and automakers, voting against more efficient cars and trucks, against curbing global warming pollution, against cutting subsidies to oil companies, and in favor of drilling for oil off American coasts and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The organization pointed out that Smith tends to reverse positions and vote in favor of environmental protections in election years. In 2002, Smith ran for his last election promising to oppose drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge but voted in favor of drilling after winning re-election. He voted repeatedly against limiting global warming pollution, until this year when he voted to allow debate on a Global Warming bill which many experts believed was inadequate to meet the standards set by scientists.

Smith’s very own Smith’s Frozen Foods, who make 10% of the nation’s frozen peas, corn and carrots, used human sewage to fertilize the crops –  in violation of Department of Environmental Quality regulations. In addition to ecoli and other fecal matter, the sewage contains heavy metals, pesticides and industrial chemicals. Broder may want to think about that the next time he’s in the frozen food aisle.

Merkely was standing in the room when Udall expressed his regret about Smith’s defeat and assured us that he would have been the kind of bipartisan Republican "who would have worked with us." 

One of greatest things about having a President Obama is that he rose through the ranks on pure talent and individual merit, running against opponents who had the advantage of personal wealth and political connections.  The American public is no longer saddled with a President C Plus Augustus, some inferior mind who got where he is because of daddy’s money whose first impulse is to protect the interests of the coterie who put him into office.  

If the Udalls value family over public service and are willing to use their status and their connections for the benefit of Gordon Smith who enabled George Bush every step of the way, and have no problem conning the public into believing Smith is something that he’s not so the family can make up 3% of the Senate, David Broder will no doubt be delighted.  It’s the public who will lose.