Comment by dragonwriter
6 months ago
> As a progressive, it seems like the Democrats always have Senate spoilers...
With Republicans usually being dominant in a number of states, if Democrats have a Senate majority, it is usually both narrow and dependent on a very small number of Democratic and/or Dem-leading moderate independent Senators from Republican-majority states who vote with the party on leadership, but are soft (or firmly opposed to the progressive preference) on a number of issues important to progressives.
If the US were approximately an equal democracy, this might be less of an issue.
>If the US were approximately an equal democracy, this might be less of an issue.
How? Evenly divided voters and representatives are the issue. Each side can barely afford to lose 10% or so during votes
No, the reason the "there is always an in-party Senate spoiler" effect (when they have a Senate majority) seems to be more true of Democrats is because it is more true of Democrats, and the reason is that when the two parties in rough balance by popular support (or even rough balance in Presidential electoral prospects, which has the same directional bias as the Senate but of lesser magnitude), the Republican Party has a systematic edge in dominance of states, which translates into a systematic advantage in the Senate, which means that when the Democrats have a Senate majority, it tends to have a decisive segment in red-state Democratic Senators who are unreliable on key priorities.
The issue being discussed in the Senate is not a symmetric issue resulting from near balance in support between the parties.
It’s also because republicans politically punish dissent, while it is more tolerated in the Democratic Party. The consequences of “disloyalty” are higher in the Republican Party.
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> If the US were approximately an equal democracy, this might be less of an issue
Equal to what?
Equal in voting rights. Gerrymandering has been perfected by Republicans. Through that they manage to dilute votes of the opposition. Other measures discourage voters likely to vote against them, like people who cannot easily take time off to vote in person or who have changed their name. Blocking rank choice and maintaining first past the post also disenfranchise third parties, and reinforces the power of incumbents.
Trump himself admitted it's better for Republicans when fewer people vote.
> Equal in voting rights. Gerrymandering has been perfected by Republicans. Through that they manage to dilute votes of the opposition.
This thread is talking about the Senate. The senate isn't gerrymandered. Both senators are state-wide races.
If you want to view it that way, you can view the senate as "pre-gerrymandered". But the last time that was an option was in 1959, and both of those are just "the entire area the US owned, but wasn't a state yet. To get senate gerrymandering, you have to go back to 1912 and the admission of New Mexico/Arizona.
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?? Both sides happily gerrymander. It’s been around since 1812 and both sides are equally guilty at this point.
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Governors are elected by popular vote.
Hell, just first past the post would eviscerate the current parties.
Argh. Too late to edit. Something else outside first past the post* like ranked choice voting.
Which is why they’ll never vote for it. Such changes are remarkable rare. :(