The Trouble With Quibbles

Congressman Green is having some struggles with distance. He's, apparently, too close to President Bush for his own follower's liking. The MJS says he voted with the President's agenda 92% of the time and the Congressman's suporters are in high dudgeon.

"Harumph!" They sputter. "He did not vote with the President 92% of the time. That would be insane. Congressman Green is his own, independent man. He only agreed with the President and House leadership (of which he is a part) 90% of the time. How dare you accuse him of being a lick-spittle, rubber-stamp lap-dog."

Here's the sad truth. In a day when parties build their majorities on razor-thin pluralities, the members of those parties have to vote party-line to accomplish their agenda. Congressman Green had to follow the fold in Washington to keep his access to those K-Street dollars he's fighting so hard to use against the Governor.

It works the same way in Madison. Every time you vote for one member of a party you are voting for all members of that party's ability to bring legislation to the floor. If you vote for Debi Towns because you like what she's done for Edgerton you are casting a party-line ballot which gives added weight to the per diem wastrels, Zien and Gard. If you vote for Brett Davis you are casting a vote that will support bringing guns onto playgrounds and all manner of silly social-engineering policy. The silly ideas of Frank Lassee get no traction if the Republicans are the minority party. He can't embarrass the whole state from the back bench.

Over the last two decades it's become clear that if you sleep with someone you are sleeping with everyone that person slept with. It works the same way in Madison. If you vote for someone you are voting with everyone that person ever voted with. The moderate votes in the party in power are traded away to amplify the most extreme. In the same way that Mark Green's votes are used to support the policies of GWB and Denny Hastert, the votes of Brett Davis and Debi Towns are used to support Tom Reynolds and Scott Suder.

It's time for a change. Vote for it.