Politicians become brands. Strom Thurmond was in bad shape during his last term in the Senate and possibly before that. I can only suppose that the South Caroli

Politicians become brands. Strom Thurmond was in bad shape during his last term in the Senate and possibly before that. I can only suppose that the South Carolina Republican Party was afraid of replacing him, either because it meant acknowledging that they had sent him to Washington when he was in bad shape, or because they didn't want the bad feelings around a contested primary. Meanwhile Chuck Grassley is apparently compos mentis, but running again this year, 42 years after he first won election.