Senate perplexity

The recent worry over an uncontested Senate presidential election has caused some to re-examine current regulations restricting the race to two -- and exactly two -- candidates. Junior senator Joe Mead finally indicated that he would seek the second nomination, but it is unclear what would have happened with a single-candidate race.

It's another example of a logistical shortcoming in the TCU Constitution, and as long as the Senate is pushing for a revised edition, they may as well clear up this issue. There is a good possibility that the same problem could surface next year, since current sophomore class representation is similarly lacking.

However, though the presidential candidates are generally juniors, the Senate allows for nominations throughout its entire membership. In this case, the established policy ultimately prevented an uncontested presidential election.

This is clearly preferable to simply having a single candidate, since the effort to "get the vote out" each spring represents by far the Senate's most visible outreach effort. This campus interaction would be severely diminished in a race where the outcome was certain.

There is still no clear way to handle a situation where no senator, regardless of class status, chooses to seek the second nomination. While such a dilemma remains extremely unlikely, this has so far proved to be the year of bizarre tests of Senate policy.

Nevertheless, there are now two presidential candidates this semester.