Governor for President! The 2016 and 2020 primary cycles were dominated by senators: Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, and many more. There were some former governors in there and at least one filigreed real-estate magnate. Still, of the top-tier, vote-getting candidates, senators predominated (both Clinton and Biden served in the Senate). However, it appears like 2024 will be a primary of gubernatorial experience. I see this as a good thing; governors share some virtues that senators do not. For one, accountability. Governors take all of the flak when something goes wrong at the state level. Be it a hurricane or Covid-unpreparedness; the buck stops at Drumthwaket. Senators are simply 1% of a legislative body, and most of their job is to be a warm body for party-line votes. Senator Feinstein has been incapacitated for years, but I would not lay any of the country’s ills at her feet. Since it is difficult for senators to distinguish themselves through competence, they often resort to debasement via grandstanding (Spartacus). Governors are not immune from this sort of behavior, but since they can become famous for competence, some choose to do so. Another virtue present in governors but not in senators is the ability to work across party lines. Even the reddest state has a few blue cities, and even New York has upstate. With a few exceptions, and those exceptions are never the ones seeking the White House, most senators only need to reach across the aisle when it’s time to dive into the pork barrel. Even senators famous for bipartisanship tend to do poorly when all their segregationist buddies have passed away. Moving back to governors, Republicans like Hogan, Christie, Sununu, and Baker and Democrats like Bullock, Bel Edwards, and Walz have found great success in states whose partisan composition imperfectly matches their own. These traits, accountability and bipartisanship, are more valuable than grandstanding and party loyalty.

Republicans have their very own Pete Buttigieg. His name is Steve Laffey, and he was the mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, until 2007. Like Mayor Pete, Laffey wants to be president. Cranston is a city of 82,000, and before Laffey’s tenure, it was in financial distress. By cutting union contracts and rejiggering Cranston’s pension system, he upgraded the city’s bond rating to investment grade. However, Laffey was never able to leverage this success into statewide office, hence the 15 years out of office. Buttigieg is similarly unpalatable in his state of Indiana, so he must rely on the largesse of patrons for appointee gigs. A true retail politician, Laffey says he wants to talk to every New Hampshire voter. They gave Buttigieg their votes, so perhaps New Hampshirites have a soft spot for mayors.

Our International Relations Club was in Boston last weekend to compete in the Harvard Model United Nations Competition. They represented the Republic of Azerbaijan in subcommittees and played roles in special topic committees as well. Eight students represented the college in what has become IR Club’s raison d’être. Hopefully, Saint Anselm will continue to compete at HMUN for years to come.

B. J. Novak’s Vengeance is worth a watch. The first film directed by The Office star is a whodunnit that had me convinced, until the very last minute, that the killer would escape from justice. Vengeance is slickly written and slickly directed, with some sharp elbows thrown at Texans and podcast-hosting New Yorkers alike. You follow Ben Manalowitz (played by Novak himself), an unlikeable urbanite, not dissimilar from Ryan Howard, as he travels to Texas for the funeral of a former Tinder date. The young woman, Abilene, died of a drug overdose, but her family suspects foul play. Ben decides to use their grief as fodder for a true crime podcast about the hopelessness of rural America. Given the opportunistic coverage of the Moscow, Idaho murders, the premise is not unbelievable. There is a redemption arc for Ben, of course, but it is refreshing to see true crime media portrayed as it is. Scummy.