Heir Unapparent. (cover story)

UNITED States presidential elections; PRESIDENTIAL candidates; INCUMBENCY (Public officers); UNITED States politics & government, 2001-2009; COLLIER, Kenneth; WARSHAW, Shirley Anne

The article focuses on the wide-open 2008 presidential campaign in the U.S., which is said to be the first in over half a century without a sitting president or vice president in the running. Kenneth Collier, an associate professor in political science, notes that people assume that having an heir ready to carry on the legacy of a president is easy. Shirley Anne Warshaw believes that the election frees the candidates from campaigning negatively as they do not have to run against an incumbent.