Reid casts wrong vote on health care for second time.

Way to go. This is the Senator who is the Majority Leader! And you Nevada folks? What were you thinking when you voted this guy into office? Or did the dementia set in after the election? He can’t even get a vote right, but you trust him to represent you and your state?

Part of the reason for both of those things is what hangs in the balance. If the Republican candidate wins, he would be the pivotal 41st vote that could throw the cog in the gears of the health care reform bill. There’s a third party (Libertarian) candidate, who doesn’t really stand a chance, but I think he would caucus with the GOP as far as the health care bill would go. Either of these candidates could end the bill’s run. Not to mention that the district has been a Liberal hot spot for centuries. And, despite that, all the polling leading up to the vote indicate that the Republican has a better than good chance of coming out on top.

So many conservatives are rallying to the side of their candidate. There have been tons of money flowing in from around the country on both sides of the line.

But, where were all of those people in 2008? There’s been a huge awakening in this country and we’ve seen an influx of new blood, so to speak. If even half of those people had been active in the last election, perhaps we wouldn’t need to be going to the extremes that we are now.

An excellent reason to stay active as best you can. What better incentive than loss of liberty.

I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that part of it is that he’s been a senator for 30 years. But, when I look at that, I have a hard time not thinking that he saw a hard race coming and just felt like he was just too old for the battle. And it would be a hard battle. And likely a losing battle at that. Even without Hoeven having publicly announced his candidacy, he was polling with a 10-20 point lead over Dorgan.

Dorgan hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the conservative base of North Dakota. Yes, he’s a Democrat, but he represents a largely conservative state. It’s a funny state though. It votes conservatively for President, and usually for Governor as well. The state house and senate usually run conservative as well. But, all of it’s U.S. representation has been Democrat for decades. So, he’s had a pretty secure position for a while. But, his votes on the health care and stimulus bills have turned many of his constituents against him.

I’ve only lived in the state for a hair over a decade, but I have a very hard time not celebrating his departure. Good bye Senator Dorgan. I’m not going to miss you.

The purpose of a U.S. Senator or Congressman is to act as a representative of his/her constituents. It’s the basis behind the idea of a representative government. You know, that whole thing that started a revolution. If a representative is no longer acting in the best interest of their state and is instead worried more about the best interests of the federal government, they are no longer representing their constituents and should be asked to step down from their position.

Senators and Congressmen, it is your obligation to do what is best for your state no matter what. You represent us, not the U.S. government. If what is best for the state happens to coincide with what is best for the U.S. then we can accept that, but if it does not, you must not be seen to go along with it. Unfortunately, you’ve gotten away with it for far too long and it has become the status quo. I think 2010 might be the start of a change for that. I can only hope that the shake-up is enough. I fear that it won’t be.

Instead, you could just do your jobs and maybe then you could keep them too.

But somebody needs to draw the line.  The Franken campaign went to court recently demanding that the state turn over the list of abentee voters whose ballots had been rejected so that they could contact them.  Yes.  CONTACT them.  Isn’t our voting system supposed to be anonymous?  Regardless of who you voted for, would you want them or their opponent knowing who you are?  Doesn’t open doors for some really nasty business?

How long will it be before we start hearing stories about the voter who got threatening calls?  And I’m not pointing fingers at Franken or his campaign here.  It’s just as likely to happen no matter who the candidate is.  How I vote is a private matter.  There is no reason for the candidates to have any of that information.  If my ballot is so indecipherable as to make who I voted for unknowable, then I should have been better about making my vote.