I enjoyed his column today, but questioned one of his comments: “Kerry also is a casualty of nuance-itis, which is a kind of house mold prevalent in the north wing of the Capitol. Senators–unlike governors, who often sharpen issues–are forever blurring things to manufacture legislative majorities. Partly for that reason, senators rarely become presidents.” He’s right that senators rarely become president, but I think the rest of this is exactly backward. How many Republican governors are as ideological as Phil Gramm, or Jesse Helms, or Rick Santorum? How many Democratic governors are as liberal as John Corzine, or Russ Feingold, or the late Paul Wellstone? Senators are under much less pressure to get things done than governors, and can indulge their principles much more easily. Governors need their proposals to command legislative majorities a lot more than senators need theirs to. One reason governors do better than senators may be this difference between posturing and governing.