There is only one time to vote for the candidate...

[Carpicon]

Hi all,

I'm a bit bored, so I thought I'd start something. Taz, this one's for you.

I fully believe that the "macro" thinking voter votes for the party, not the candidate when it comes to representatives in a legislative body. That means the US House and Senate, your state legislature, your county and local boards, including school boards. With the way these bodies operate, the party is in control, not the individual. The party in control sets the legislative agenda, controls the debate, and appoints members to committees and that is where most of the true power is.

Think about our US Senate for a second. The Republicans hold a razor-slim margain, and thus control the Senate. Let's pretend for a second that you live in Olympia Snowe's State of Maine. She's as close to a Democrat as you can get, but she has an 'R' in front of her name. Let's pretend that She is running against a moderate Democrat for that Senate Seat. That Democrat agrees with more of what you do, and is probably more conservative than Snowe. He's a Zell Miller type. If that Democrat gets elected and swings the balance of power in the Senate to the Democrats, it's not the moderate to conservative Democrats that will be in control of the Senate. It will be the leadership of the Democratic party, people like Tom Daschle, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Robert Byrd, Patrick Leahy, Ted Kennedy, and Charles Schumer. They will control everything, not your maverick Democrat. The leaders of the party will put pressure on your Senator to vote with the party, and they usually will.

This scenario is not exclusive to the US Senate. In my state of Wisconsin, this type of thing is all over the place. Our State Senate, the State Assembly, the County Board, the Milwaukee School Board, the City Council, even the State Supreme Court. My own State Senator, Jeff Plale, a "conservative" Democrat who promised to govern from the right proceeded to, once elected, side with the Leftie Governer whenever possible.

There is a time to vote for the candidate and not the party, those are called primaries.

[strut]

Very, very well put Carp, That is a toughy.

[lamb1647]

There is one other time to vote for the candidate and not the party. That is when John Kerry is running against George Bush for President. Re-elect George Bush is a no brainer!!

Bill

[etothepii]

That means the US House and Senate, your state legislature, your county and local boards, including school boards.

I agree with you on all of this. What about the executive branch?