What About Seniority?

This was posted by Gordon Jones, former senior staffer in the US Senate in the Deseret News.  He says "It's time for change. It's time for Dan."

Well, Rusty, I worked as a senior      staffer in the Senate in the 1970s, when Utah indeed had two      "junior" senators, Jake Garn and Orrin Hatch. And I can tell you      that they were far from ineffective. On both defense policy and      the environment, nothing moved in the Senate without Jake's      involvement. On labor law, legal reform, and social issues like      abortion, nothing happened in the Senate without Orrin's      involvement. In fact, by the time you got there, Rusty, Orrin      Hatch had already been CHAIRMAN of a full committee.
      I can point to examples of other senators who have been very      effective without seniority. It is a matter of will, dedication,      and energy, not a question of seniority. In fact, as senators gain      seniority, they tend to lose the "edge" that made them so      effective in their "junior" years, relying more on the Good Old      Boy network to produce far less satisfactory results.
      That has certainly been the case with Hatch.
      It's Time!
      g