republocrats

Over at Alternet, David Morris wrote a fascinating article about the similarities between the current two parties in American politics. According to Morris, although their rhetoric may be substantially different, the voting patterns of Democratic and Republican legislators are remarkably similar, especially on controversial issues.

However, the main partisan divide appears to occur when legislators vote on amendments, which are often strict party-line votes. I think that this says some very interesting things about the manner in which policy is crafted. On the one hand, this unanimity can provide hope that nothing too radical is likely to come out of Congress. However, it also indicates a uniformity of thought that may be very disconcerting to anyone who still holds a Jeffersonian notion of two differing parties duking it out in the marketplace of ideas.

Regardless of your interpretation of the meaning of this information, it should be understood and accepted that knowledge of congressional voting records is incredibly important in order to maintain an informed electorate. This is something that the media, both partisan and non, does a very poor job of providing.

Perhaps sometime I will sit down to write a long post describing my feelings about Howard Dean and his perceived persona. Today is not that day. Suffice to say that Morris' characterization of Dean's interview with Jon Stewart is very similar to the way that I feel about it as well.

However, if you want to hear a potential presidential candidate who is willing to speak his mind, check out Stewart's recent interview with the current '08 candidate of choice of your's truly Senator Joe Biden from Delaware.