Five Politicians Who Fascinate Me

Here's a little non-sequitur. I had some other names in mind, but they lost their elections. If the list leans Democrat, well, party purity makes candidates less distinguishable.

1. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma): James Inhofe's global warming denials come off as cheap politicking. Coburn earned his nickname of "Dr. No" for blocking bills, voting against spending and tacking on poison amendments. He's also an arch-conservative with respectable principles. He's in league with the Tea Party Senator as much as Jim DeMint, but more quiet about it, and actually voted for TARP. I just find Coburn's honest streak relatively refreshing; I may not like what he does, but he is transparent with what he does.

2. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada): Sheer survival instincts. The moment he became the Senate's Democratic leader in 2004, Reid saw the Republican target painted on his back. He built alliances, got appointments for potential appointments, worked with Nevada Republicans and watched the Republicans appoint the only person he could possibly beat (Sharron Angle). This might have been the most carefully constructed Senate campaign ever, a fifth term secured by planning for it from the moment the fourth began.

3. Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-Montana): You just know someone from Montana would make the list. This second-term Democrat with a Republican running mate is a character, with a background in irrigation and ranching. No less an authority than Jonathan Athens tells me Schweitzer was the only politician he could never rattle with an incisive question (John McCain, not so much). Schweitzer stole the show with his humorous speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. When his term ends in 2012, don't expect this big personality to exit the stage.

4. Governor-elect Lincoln Chafee (I-Rhode Island): It would have been inconceivable for a Chafee to depart the Republican Party. His family held Senate seats from Rhode Island for generations. After a sobering loss to a Democrat in 2006, he dropped out. Considering he was the last Republican I remember that people actually called "liberal," it wasn't surprising. For a while it appear as if Chafee would become a Democrat, but he struck out as an independent and rebounded to win the governor's office.

5. Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota): Conrad is the king of charts, never lacking for a pithy visual to back up a budget argument. I debated between him and Ben Nelson (D-Nelson), the Senate's most conservative Democrat, but fewer people know Conrad thanks to Nelson's role in health reform. He usually gets rolling on his points when the eyes of the masses begin to glaze over. In a country with a growing anti-intellectual minority, I turn toward politicians rooted in fact.