The Sophomore Strivers

It's a seasonal ritual of Congressional politics.

Fresh off a re-election win, a younger member of the U.S. House or top staffers casually mentions that he may consider running for senator — or maybe even governor — in a few years.

This year, it's second-term Rep. Heath Shuler and third-term Rep. Patrick McHenry. Shuler said in an interview that he may challenge Sen. Richard Burr, while unnamed McHenry aides told reporters that he might consider a race for higher office.

In many cases, the talk turns out to be just that. A few reasons:

* SENIORITY: Congress works on seniority. Frustrated freshman often daydream about having a more important job, but as their second and third terms wear on they find that they can get a little more done than they could before. Why not stick around?

* RISK: Most Congressional seats do not swing. If you've got the right letter (D or R) after your name and you live in the right place, you can get re-elected until you retire, die or are caught writing dirty notes to an intern. Few politicians have such job security.

* CHALLENGE: Representatives might have good name recognition and double-digit advantages over opponents in their own districts, but few are known well enough elsewhere to easily win a statewide race. And those easy re-elections can hurt your game.

Some members of Congress know all this but encourage the talk anyway because it's an easy way to get free publicity.

It's not all chest-puffery, though. While Rep. Brad Miller dallied with running against Sen. Elizabeth Dole last year before calling it off, a Congressman named Burr actually did run for Senate — and won.