- Joined
- Sep 3, 2011
- Messages
- 34,817
- Reaction score
- 18,576
- Location
- Look to your right... I'm that guy.
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Centrist
For the most part this is how I believe it should be. The only exception I would make is that I think the US Senate should think and act more from the country's needs standpoint, and is why I think the Senate was originally picked by the states and not the people, while the House of Representatives takes the people's (read: constituents) interests at heart.Allow me to answer the question from practical experience. My job is chief of staff for a state representative in Michigan. We have been here for two terms and will be term limited after three.
It is the view of the Rep that he works for the constitutients who elected him to the job and is their servant. We have an open door policy in Lansing and any person can come in to make their thoughts known on any issue. He does give extra credence to the views of actual constituents - more if they show up on the past voters rolls. We keep a record of calls or letters on a particular issue and that carries weight - but does not always decide his vote if other relevant information outweighs those opinions.
It has been our experience that people want a rep who works hard for the best interests of the district. If you do not vote the way they desired, most will accept a reasonable explaination as to why.
Couple questions:
1) Has your representative ever felt they had to go a route different from the people's wishes? I mean, just because the people want something doesn't always mean that that is wise, or even truly in the people's best interests.
2) You mention extra credence given for specific forms of contact. How would you rate the following? In-person, individual written letter, phone call, e-mail, obvious organized mass mailing. I have been told by some that all forms of contact are said to be equal, but that's not really the case. The ones where more effort is taken are generally given more weight, as it is presumed the issue meant more to the person who took the time to make the effort.
3) Do you have a small collection of known "gadflys" that routinely complain about anything and everything all the time?