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Strings? Hmmmm...focus on the electoral process for a moment. During presidential elections, one may get a 50% voter turnout, during off year elections, it might fall to about 30%, give or take. A House district is about 575,000, but not all of those are voters.By the time you whittle it down, you discover that about a thousand votes can easily move the election one percentage point, and therefore that no substantial interest group is ignorable. Obviously, if you are Democrat, there are some you write off (like Concerned Women of America), and ditto if you are a Republican (perhaps NOW), but you must keep as many constituents as possible, and alienate as few "undecideds" as possible. Do you know what happens, then, to the average Congressional candidate? He becomes afraid to take a controversial position unless it "goes with the territory"; he speaks in platitudes whenever possible; and he becomes pretty cautious and banal. This is not due to string pulling, or back room deals, but being always under scrutiny by the electorate, and easily sandbagged..... |
