Tech_Esq
Sic Semper Tyrannis!
However, when you look at funding rates for incumbents versus challengers, then add in Congressional perks like franking and town hall meetings, you really have to question whether it's because people really LIKE the incumbent over the challenger or the incumbent can put on a better marketing campaign to get re-elected.
At the time I did my research, 25% of all incumbents ran unopposed in the House. (Not the same ones every year of course). A majority either were unopposed or had weak competition (underfunded for running a serious race). The upshot was that there was a fairly small minority of races that were competitive based on tangibles money, recognition etc.
The really amazing thing is that challengers ever beat incumbents.
I think it's mostly about positions... most politicians are pretty careful to represent their district's positions. They lose their seats when either they don't listen or they do something that ticks off their constituency.
And Tip O'Neill knew what he was talking about when he said "all politics are local".
Either way, I don't want anyone else artificially controlling my vote.
Sometimes it's about positions. Most districts have been gerrymandered such that they are not party competitive. So, in most places you are only going to get a either a democrat or a republican. (I didn't say that very well. One or the other but not a competition between the two). In that case, the challenger would have to win a primary battle to change a seat.
I will grant you that on issues of local concern, there may not be much difference no matter who or which party has the seat. In that Thomas P. O'Neill was absolutely correct. That being said, representatives vote party line 85% of the time or more. (I was actually shocked when I saw how consistent this was over time). The whip may let you out now and again, but you go off the reservation at your peril.
Lastly, if I were to pass a law that said no representative could serve more than 12 terms (24 years) that would still be too limited for you? Could it be true that out of 640,000 people in your district, only that one is fit to be its representative?
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