After the shocking vote of 228 to 205, party leaders did their usual rounds of partisan finger-pointing, but it really wasn't a partisan issue at all. The center had collapsed in favor of a coalition of far-right and far-left zealots.That's actually not the way it looks when you break the vote down by members' ideal points:
There's definitely somewhat more opposition out in the extremes than toward the center, but it's not a particularly striking pattern. The more telling indicator of the vote is that retiring members voted overwhelmingly for it and members in competitive districts voted overwhelmingly against it.
Update: Diane Watson opposed the measure, while Maxine Waters supported it, even though they have similar voting records and represent similar, adjacent districts. Those two can't agree on anything.
Later update: Milbank quote added in above.
1 comment:
Thanks for the shout out Seth. No COFEX vote is ever perfect, but I believe this does a good job of qualifying statistically and theoretically: the extremes vs. the leadership.
I'm just happy I have a new big league example. The 1990 Budget Vote was getting a little tired.
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