Should KERRY Resign From the Senate if he's the Nominee?

[liberalpragmatist]

That's what Bob Dole did. The risk is that Kerry loses his seat, loses the presidency, and is completely out of office. However, resigning from the Senate has its benefits. As a nominee, he won't be able to devote his time to Massachusetts, which will hurt him. Republicans will point out that he's not doing the job he's been elected to. They'll also organize embarrasing votes that they'll hope to tie him up with.

Resigning from the Senate at the end of the summer would keep the GOP from playing these tricks. He could focus on one thing and one thing only: winning the Presidency. The People of Massachusetts would get someone who would represent them (yes, a Repub), and we'd lose the prospect of us losing the seat if Kerry wins, since, if he resigns and a new senator is appointed, that Senator will come up for a vote in Nov. '04. Mass. could thus elect a new Dem senator in Nov. and we wouldn't have to worry abt losing a valuable seat if Kerry wins.

Perhaps Edwards should do the same if he's the nominee or the running mate. He's not running for reelection anyway, so he could just withdraw in August and Bowles could be appointed, which would let us have an incumbent. The downside is they could view that as a setup and Bowles could lose the race, but it could help him.