Are Republicans and Democrats Different?
Check out this Deseret News article about Jim Matheson’s voting record as a member of the House of Representatives. Matheson is one of the most centrist Representatives in the House voting 50 percent of the time with the majority Republican Party and 50 percent of the time with his Democratic Party.
Rep. Rob Bishop (R), the guy my district keeps sending to Washington, says people in the second congressional district should vote against Jim Matheson even though he often votes with conservatives when it is in the interests of his district.
“He’s still a Democrat … and wouldn’t it be better to have someone (in the Utah) delegation who votes with the Republicans 90 percent of the time?”
It seems Bishop thinks it is more important to tow the party line than to represent the best interests of constituents.
Matheson has a different take:
“I don’t keep score” on whether votes are for or against Republicans or Democrats,” said Matheson. “I try to take each issue and vote how to represent my constituents in Utah.”
I’ve had friends ask what the real difference is between Democrats and Republicans. I think these two philosophies do a great job showing the answer to that question.
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Sounds like Matheson takes his job more seriously.
Sounds like he votes like I do. One issue at a time.
Smart man.
Comment by Cody — August 26, 2006 @ 7:20 am
I just need to review his track record to see how closely it matches my voting wants.
Comment by Cody — August 26, 2006 @ 7:26 am
What evidence is there that Bishop thinks it is more important to tow the party line that represent the best interests of his constituents?
This isn’t a difference between Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats are ticked off at Joe Lieberman for don’t being cooperating too much with the GOP. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/8/25/181546/729
Matheson is indeed a centrist and that could be a good thing or a bad thing, it all depends on the votes. John McCain is a centrist and I think he would make an absolutely terrible President.
Comment by Daniel — August 26, 2006 @ 5:47 pm
Careful, there are plenty of Democrats for whom party takes top priority. It seems to have a lot to do with how secure one is in his/her district.
Matheson would not have survived the last couple of elections had he been a pure partisan, but there are many Democrat partisans that hate Matheson’s guts for the way he votes. Bishop is secure in his district, so he doesn’t have to worry about any of that stuff. The folks that are not secure in their districts that play this game end up fighting hard re-election campaigns, and they often lose.
Due to the makeup of Matheson’s district, his voting record, and his personality, I doubt the GOP will make much headway against him with the ‘He’s one of THEM’ strategy.
Comment by Reach Upward — August 28, 2006 @ 11:28 am
Especially in utah– this is true. Because politically speaking, Utah is so radically republican that those who are more independent tend to call themselves democrats– Ashdown, for instance.
My dh just went to a meeting where Ashdown spoke, discussing why he’s running as a democrat– basically, because if he ran as a republican, he’d be running against Orrin Hatch.
Comment by Sare — August 28, 2006 @ 11:56 am