Before July 13, almost nobody had heard of Darline Graham Nordone, but now she is a U.S. senator.
How did she get the job?
By being the sister of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who held the seat until his death on July 11.
This reeks of nepotism. Critics say it looks like a hereditary monarchy, and complain that Nordone is “completely unqualified.”
These criticisms are not untrue. But they don’t matter.
It’s fine that Nordone doesn’t have experience in government — that’s healthy in a democracy. It’s also fine that Nordone got the job because she’s Graham’s sister — appointing her might be the best way for Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) to honor voters’ wishes.
There’s a deeper point here, too: As a culture, we are too sensitive about nepotism and too confident in “meritocracy.”
For a hundred years, governors have been appointing widows to fill out the U.S. Senate terms of their departed husbands: Hattie Wyatt Caraway was appointed in 1931, and then voters elected her in her own right. After Huey Long was assassinated, his widow served until a special election could be held. Four other widows have since finished their husbands’ terms, thanks to appointments.
This pattern reflects a good and natural desire: Governors are trying to give the voters what they voted for.
A governor might think, “The guy the voters hired is gone. They don’t get to vote until the general election. So, let’s give the voters the closest thing we can to the guy they voted for.”
For many senators, the closest thing to a second self is his wife. I know this is a helplessly old-fashioned view of marriage, but yes, husband and wife often become something like one flesh over the decades. In many couples, nobody knows the decedent’s wishes better than the widow or widower.
Graham wasn’t married. He was very close to his sister Darline. She campaigned with him and always lived in South Carolina. She arguably knows better than anyone else what he would have wished or done in a given circumstance. She is, at least plausibly, the closest thing to having Graham in office, which is what the voters wanted.
For similar reasons, a longtime chief of staff has often stepped in to fill the seat of a fallen senator.
This grates on the sensibilities of the day.
“Why does Lindsey Graham’s sister get his Senate seat?” asked writer Alex Bronzini on social media. “We shouldn’t pass Senate seats to the next of kin as if they’re hereditary titles. Just select the most qualified ideologically-aligned person.”
Again, that sounds reasonable, especially to the meritocratic mind of 21st-century college-educated America.
Of course, we should have the most qualified person for every job. You should be hired for what you know, not whom you know.
But who determines who is the “most qualified” person to be a U.S. senator?
It’s the voters. There’s something radically egalitarian and un-meritocratic about politics. To be a U.S. senator, you need to be 30, a U.S. citizen, live in the state, and get more votes than the next guy. No Ph.D., no job history, and no recommendations are necessary beyond what John Q. Public demands.
Maybe you think the voters should have higher requirements for the office. Certainly, we men and women of higher character in office than the ones we currently have, but also, commentators, academics, and all sorts of elites probably overvalue meritocracy in our world.
The main problem is that we’re not as good at measuring merit as we might think.
Imagine a small-business owner about to give up the reins of his company. It might seem nepotistic to hand them over to his son as opposed to the “most qualified person.” But human beings are ultimately mysteries to other human beings. We don’t know how someone will do in a new job.
So, if there’s a person you know intimately, then it’s actually rational to say, “I’m not certain who will be good at this job, but my uncertainty is lower for my son, because I’ve known him his entire life.”
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Now, I wouldn’t want this reasoning applied if my Delta pilot is out sick. The Mets are scraping the bottom of the barrel, but I don’t think they should sub in Devin Williams’ brother if the regular closer’s arm is tired.
But most jobs do not allow for the sort of objective measurement of ability that we can get for pitchers and pilots. And with all due respect to the dearly departed, being a U.S. senator is not brain surgery.