General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: You know those Blue Dog democrats everyone hated? [View all]mythology
(9,527 posts)there aren't elected officials who vote more with the other party than their own, and it's not particularly close. Most members of Congress vote with their party over 75% of the time.
Of the current Senate Democrats in this term, exactly 1 has voted with the party less than 75% of the time. For Republicans, 4 have voted with the party less than 75% of the time. In the House, it's 7 Democrats and 1 Republican who have voted with their party less than 75% of the time.
In the 111th Congress, the one from 2008-2010, 3 House Democrats and 1 House Republican voted with their party less than 75% of the time. In the Senate 3 Democrats and 4 Republicans (although Arlen Spector was listed in both parties as that's when he switched so I would argue 2 and 3 respectively) voted with their party less than 75% of the time.
Not exactly a lot of DINOs or RINOs when you actually map out the votes.
Harry Truman's quote was much more appropriate before the parties realigned in the 1960s and 1970s where the party makeup became more accurate with regard to party policy particularly around civil rights for blacks. But because most members of Congress and the public at large have become "correctly" sorted based on preferred policy and which party is more likely to deliver it, there's a lot less cross-party voting than in the past. If I vote for a candidate of a particular party, odds are pretty good they are going to vote with their party. It's why Republicans have tried so hard to link Democratic Congress members with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Because when push comes to shove, the overwhelming majority of Congress members vote with their party the vast majority of the time.