i read in another thread a comment upon which i'd like to solicit further thoughts, but felt it would be most appropriate to start a new thread (rather than pull that thread off topic).
the quote was:
Quote:
Originally posted by Ronn_Bman:
I don't actually know anyone who is politically intelligent and votes a straight ticket... Republican or Democrat. The people in my circle vote for candidates based on the issues at hand and the candidate's position.
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i'm curious - how often to members of congress cross party lines in the interest of their local constituency? i know it happens, but my impression has always been that it is the gross exception (say, less than 10%) rather than a frequent thing.
so my questions are this:
A) what are your impressions? does anyone have any evidence or references on this?
B) what do you think of this? is it necessarily a good thing (eg more efficient vs. less in touch with the majority)?
C) to Ronn's original post: if crossing party lines is the gross exception, is it really politically intelligent to pick different candidates based on their views, since those views will be subsumed by the greater party whole?
cheers [img]smile.gif[/img]
edit - added last question (C) to bring it full circle
[ 11-25-2003, 11:59 PM: Message edited by: sultan ]