I knew he was bad, but I had no idea he was this bad!Democrats need to stick to their guns on Capitol Hill. As lawmakers and political observers have suggested -- and as a recent numerical analysis by CQ Weekly confirmed -- Congress is at its most partisan level in decades (except, perhaps, for the 1995 session after Republicans took over Capitol Hill). In the Senate, Republicans voted with their party on 94 percent of votes; Democrats voted along party lines 85 percent of the time. In the House, Republicans held ranks on 91 percent of votes; Democrats did the same 87 percent of instances.
For House Democrats, the 87-percent unity figure is the highest since 1960. (In 1998, for example, it was 82 percent.)That's a credit to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who, in her first year as leader, has made it clear to House Democrats that they must toe the party line if they want to have any chance of stopping the Bush agenda. She's also made the GOP sweat out some tough votes, particularly on Medicare reform.
Senate Democrats would do well to follow the House's lead. Sure, their unity figures aren't far apart, but look deeper at the numbers and you'll see what I mean.
Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) voted against the Democratic position 91.5 percent of the time. Of course, many Democrats have written him off as being a full-blown Republican minus only the party label. But last year, Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas -- who recently left the Democratic Party and actually became a Republican -- voted against the GOP 49 percent of the time. And Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), considered a RINO (Republican In Name Only) by many conservatives, strayed from the party line just 28.8 percent of the time.
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http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2004/01/jones-m-01-12.html
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