The "My Congressman may be an idiot but" syndrome & how the GOP sufferred premature eruption

[grantcart]

40 years ago I spent a term in the state legislature working for the minority leadership.

It was an internship and I did lots of odd jobs. One of the first things I did was to follow up on a constituent's request to get help with getting a visa for somebody's parents to visit for a wedding.

I wrote a letter stating that they should address their concern to their federal congressperson.

When I showed it to the office manager she almost had a heart attack. She said that was the most important message that had come into the office that day.

She explained that it fell into the "My Congressman may be an idiot but" syndrome. All legislative representatives (state and federal) die for a personal request for intervention because they are going to pick up a strong supporter without concern for ideology. If the person agrees with the rep then they will tell everyone. But if they are on the opposite side that person will tell all of their friends "My Congressman may be an idiot on the issues but they worked miracles when I asked them to . . ."

It doesn't cost them any money and doesn't cost them votes.

It was one of the great secrets of Ed Kennedy's huge margins in a state that isn't as liberal as everyone thinks, he had one of the greatest offices for handling constituency requests in the history of the country.

Any time a civilian gets a PERSONAL connection with a politician it trumps other issues and that person cannot wait to tell all of their friends. They tell their friends and their friends tell their friends.

The affordable health care act is going to be like that for Obama. As people get connected and have positive results even regular Republicans will say "He may be . . " We are already seeing that.

This is doubly bad for the Republicans because in 3 months from now the ACA will have a completely different framing than it has now.

BY next year's elections the Republicans are going to be in a heap of trouble still fighting for a program that has touched millions of uninsured people. The timing couldn't be worse. And the Republicans couldn't deserve it more.

[madaboutharry]

1. Even republican voters know

A good deal when they see it. On the news today, there was a man, a republican, who signed up along with his wife and is going to save $13,000.

I agree, the republicans are screwed on this.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

2. Interesting. So, "He may be a half-black, Kenyan, socialist, communist, Marxist,

dictator, but he sure did get me some affordable health care"?

Also, what other kinds of favors can I ask my congresscritter for? Joe Pitts is such horrible RWer, so I'd love to get some benefit in exchange for putting up with his crap.

[Sunlei]

3. A noticeable change on major insurance websites. Prices are listed for those who used to be refused.

Thank you, good post.