Rumors abound throughout the news media that Arizona Governor Doug Ducey is poised to appoint Cindy McCain to fill the remainder of John McCain’s senate term in the event he expires prior to the 2023 expiration of his term. Paul Mirengoff has a piece at Powerline arguing that Mrs. McCain is a qualified successor to her husband, although perhaps not conservative enough to be a good choice for the seat. With respect to Mr. Mirengoff, I suggest the issue at hand is not her qualification for the job, the issue is our nation’s longstanding rejection of hereditary titles of nobility.

It is one thing for a family member to run and be elected in his or her own right to succeed a close relative. While it happens often enough it is still something most Americans seem at least uneasy with. Running for office with the benefit of a beloved family name can be helpful to a candidate but it is also a turnoff for many voters and the genesis of much low hanging fruit for political attacks. But in the end, at least there is merit in being elected to one’s own term rather than being appointed to succeed a relative.

Frank Murkowski served in the United States Senate for two decades before he was elected governor of Alaska. Upon taking office Governor Murkowski promptly appointed his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, to finish out his Senate term. This blatant act of nepotism so enraged Alaskans that the law was changed by referendum in 2004 to require a special election to fill a Senate vacancy and was a major factor in Governor Murkowski losing his re-election primary to one Sarah Palin.