Beyond the Dome

What do you call a race where three sitting senators are the last viable candidates for the presidency? The joke pretty much writes itself: a reality show where all of the contestants talk too much.

But it’s also a serious – and unprecedented – development: No previous election has pitted sitting members of Congress against each other as the major-party nominees – let alone sitting U.S. senators.

We’re calling this historic state of affairs “Beyond the Dome” – since that’s where one member of the Senate club is certain to end up after Nov. 4. That’s an amazing prospect in itself, because as much as senators love to picture themselves in the Oval Office, they generally make lousy candidates: The last sitting senator to win the presidency was John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, back in 1960.

Between now and November, we’ll try to capture the stories of Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and John McCain. There will be snippets, observations, anecdotes – little slices of history about their Senate records, facts that may or may not help their case on the campaign trail, glimpses at how their colleagues are reacting to the race.

And we’ll link you to deeper stories that explore the tensions that inform a major campaign issue or describe a political dilemma that connects Congress to the campaign trail.

Over time, these stories and snippets should serve as a distinct Congress-eye-view of the 2008 campaign, and give a sense of Capitol Hill’s unique role in forging its shape and substance. That doesn’t mean this blog will be deadly serious all the time, but it will try to deliver enough substance and context to capture what’s at stake.

This week, for example, McCain, Clinton and Obama are all coming back to the Hill to hear Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker testify about the latest developments in the Iraq war. The two are appearing at back-to-back hearings on Tuesday: the Senate Armed Services Committee in the morning, where McCain and Clinton are members, and Foreign Relations in the afternoon, where Obama is a member.

The candidates’ questions could be entirely predictable. But there’s also the chance that the questions they put to the war leaders will go off script, in which case the hearing could make for compelling campaign theater and a significant moment in Congress’ ongoing battle with the administration over the conduct of the war.

And as long as he's here anyway, Obama will chair a hearing on, of all things, ambassador nominations while he's waiting his turn to grill Petraeus.

Also, in today’s CQ Weekly, I have two stories about Obama. One is about race in politics, because I like the easy ones. The other is about one of his bills – creating stronger penalties against tactics to mislead or intimidate minority voters – that was actually moving but probably won’t get any farther now, thanks to presidential politics.

As we go along, please let me know what you think and how we can do this better. Tips are always welcome, and yes, venting is okay too.