Op-Ed: The Accidental Senator

Op-Ed

The Accidental Senator

Source: Newsweek

By Sen. Ted Kaufman

For more than 35 years, my life has been intertwined with Congress. But I had always worked in the legislative wings, serving first as a volunteer on Joe Biden's 1972 Senate campaign, then as his longtime chief of staff, and later as co-chair of the Center for the Study of Congress at Duke University, where I continue to teach. When Biden traded his Senate robes for the vice presidency last year, I was part of his transition team; I never considered that then--Delaware governor Ruth Ann Minner would appoint me to his old seat. After all, in politics, like volleyball, there are servers and spikers. So it came as a genuine surprise when Joe's son Hunter turned to me on a flight and asked, "Why not you?"

I could think of more than a few reasons why it shouldn't be me. I was almost 70 years old and had already paid the rent on a beachfront Florida condo for the winter. I was ready for a more contemplative life and greater stretches of time with my seven grandchildren. And I knew the less-than-flattering conventional wisdom: I would be a lame-duck senator with little ambition and no ability to get anything done. But the more I thought about it, and talked it over with family and friends, the more I realized that my situation was full of advantages. Far from being a bystander whom "no one will hear from," as one op-ed put it, I would be in a great spot--ideally positioned to move straight from the sidelines to the Senate floor.

With a great staff already in place and no plans to run for election in 2010, I could take on Wall Street--funneling my outrage at the financial crisis into concrete reforms--without worrying about the political blowback. I wouldn't have to fundraise or campaign, two tremendous time drains. And as a temporary senator on a two-year tour, I would not have to pace myself. Most important, I would already know how the game is played. The Senate is a go-with-the-flow place, the proverbial saucer that cools the tea. But unlike the typical new senator, I wouldn't need any on-the-job training, and I already had relationships with the Senate's most-senior Democrats--many of whom were important committee chairs--including Dan Inouye, John Kerry, and Pat Leahy.

As a result, I was able to break out of my legislative pen early, helping to push through a key antifraud act, which not only funneled millions into law enforcement but created the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission--a 9/11 Commission--style investigation into Wall Street's role in the Great Recession. (To get on the bill, I just asked Judiciary Committee chairman Pat Leahy, who gave me carte blanche to push it in the Senate and the press.) Although I am not a member of the banking committee--the traditional place to take on Wall Street--my knowledge of the Senate (and my Wharton M.B.A.) has helped me tackle market issues through other means. Last fall I served as lead witness at a banking-committee hearing on computer-driven trading, the high-frequency strategies that allow traders to make money by merely churning the market, buying and selling stocks in milliseconds. In December I chaired a full Judiciary Committee hearing on the pursuit and prosecution of those responsible for the crash of 2008.

We're making progress. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is rolling; the Securities and Exchange Commission seems to be regaining its footing. And those people responsible for the financial catastrophe are under active criminal and civil investigation. Like most Americans, sometimes I get frustrated with Washington. But after 37 years, it feels good to be spiking the ball.

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