Capitol Letter: Labor Takes Aim At Mccain-Feingold

"I could see him getting tired of the Senate," says University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato. "What do you really have to look back on? You attend a lot of historic occasions like inaugurals. Maybe you pass a bill. But the vast majority [of senators] never get anything passed that lasts, that stays in the history books. Governors build things. Lots of buildings. Lots of brick and mortar."

The most ardent gubernatorial suitors are in the House, where at least three-David Bonior, the Michigan Democrat, and Republicans Steve Largent of Oklahoma, and Jim Kolbe of Arizona-are looking seriously at 2002 races. Bonior, the House's second-ranking Democrat as minority whip, is "more than 90 percent sure" he will run. It's more than career restlessness that is driving him. Michigan is expected to lose a congressional seat as a result of the 2000 census, and the GOP-controlled legislature that will redraw the district lines has the liberal Bonior in its cross hairs. But the surest sign that he's running: he's publishing a book: "Walking to Mackinaw"-the title is a reference to his 24 years of walking his suburban Detroit district-will be out in June.

© 2001