Micheal Bennet, who represented Colorado as a U.S. Senator, told a journalist in 2009 that the possibility of losing his seat in 2010 should not hold him back from voting for health-care reform even if it were unpopular in Colorado. The journalist, of CNN, asked, "If you get to the final point and you are a critical vote for health care reform, and every piece of evidence tells you, if you support that bill, you will lose your job, would you cast the vote and lose your job?" Bennet replied, "Yes."[1] Voting in line with the best interests of his fellow citizens would evince a degree of political integrity that I suspect few in the biz have today. However, might a representative be wrong and his or her constituents right about the long term best interest? Is a U.S. senator necessarily smarter or more capable of insight? Lest Bennet be criticized here for failing to have represented his constituents, one might take a look back at Madison’s Notes to the constitutional convention for guidance.
The complete essay is at Essays on Two Federal Empires.
1. Josh Gerstein, "Bennet Willing to Sacrifice Seat over Health Vote," Politico, November 11, 2009.
