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Wladyslaw Pleszczynski and William McGurn

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American Dynasties

By William McGurn
Posted Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2001, at 10:53 AM ET

Dear Wlad,

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Did you see Cuomo's announcement that he's going to run for governor? Andrew, I mean.

I'm sure Singapore is eating this up. When I was in Asia, the Singaporean government loved to come back at us with this kind of thing whenever someone in the Western press or an embassy made a crack about the family dynasties. But they have a point. Everyone talks about the Kennedys, and with three brothers and a number of grandchildren in politics, surely they qualify. But it looks as though Kennebunkport trumps Camelot--with a governor and a father/son presidencies. Not to mention the Doles, the Dodds, the Daleys, etc.

My guess is that the United States will only see more of this in the future, given two things. First is the importance of name recognition in politics. Second, today there are more options for talented people outside politics. So I don't think the competition is as keen. And if it's your family business, you have an immense advantage.

Speaking of dynasties, I'm not sure what the New York Post would do without Hillary and Alec Baldwin. Every other day the Post either reports on Alec Baldwin's marital problems, some public spat in the Hamptons that involves him, or his reluctance to make good on his promise to leave America's shores in the event of a Bush victory. If Alec did decide to go to France, the Post would probably open up a Paris bureau just to keep the coverage up. Ditto for Hillary. So unflattering was the front-page photograph on Friday that it even elicited sympathy from some members of the extended (and generally anti-Hillary) McGurn clan.

But I loved her remarks on the pardons when she announced she was voting against Ashcroft. Remember when Bill was running in 1992, and all the nods and winks about a two-for-one deal? All gone now. Here was Hillary on the Rich pardon: "You're going to have to ask the president's transition office for a comment. I have no opinion. I had no opinion before. I had no opinion at the time. I have no opinion now." Six years of this could be fun.

And you'll be happy to know that both General Mills (Wheaties) and Disney passed on Ray Lewis for endorsements. ...

Cheers,
Bill

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