My question for Mike Capuano
Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA) is running for the Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy. One of his campaign strategies – a very cool one, if you ask me – is to hold teleconferences with potential voters. They’re like town hall meetings but without the signs and screaming. I’ve been in on two calls and both times I’ve entered the queue to ask a question, but I haven’t gotten picked yet. If I had been called, here’s what I would have said:
Congressman, a large part of what’s wrong with the United States is the Senate itself. There are 15 states with populations under 2,000,000. These states represent less than 10% of the country’s population, yet they have 30% of the vote in the Senate. Even worse, Senate rules and/or traditions grant enormous power to individual senators, either as committee chairs or as potential filibuster participants. So we’re in a situation where a Senator who was elected with under 200,000 votes can singlehandedly thwart the efforts of a President who was elected by 67,000,000. We can’t do anything about the disproportionate power of small states without changing the Constitution, but we should be able to do something about the Senate rules and procedures.
My first question is whether you have a problem with the way power in the Senate is distributed and manipulated. If not, why not? If so, what would you try to do about it?
Comments
Comment from david
Time November 20, 2009 at 11:35 am
First of all, Congressman (or campaign staffer), thank you for finding, reading, and responding to my blog post. Of course I have no good way to verify your identity, but your response sounds authentic to me.
I certainly respect the importance of minority views, and of course I recognize that sometimes the disproportionate power given to individuals or small coalitions in the Senate works in “our” favor. But I still believe that the current system has gone too far. We are at the point where an individual Senator can put an indefinite hold on ambassadorial or judicial appointments until his or her demands for something completely unrelated are satisfied. That’s not compromise, that’s extortion.
If you are elected to the Senate, I hope that you will work with your colleagues there to eliminate some of the more outrageous rules in order to make it easier for the will of the people to be done and the work of the government to be accomplished.
Comment from Mike Capuano
Time November 20, 2009 at 11:17 am
Fact is, our Constitution was designed to allow that Senator of that small state to represent his constituents as he/she sees fit. Even if that means some find the Senator’s actions as being in defiance of a President elected with many, many more votes. The only way to remove that power from the Senators from small states is by amending the Constitution, and I don’t see that happening…nor am I sure it should. Our system requires compromise to achieve progress, and it requires that the rights of the minority be respected.
I have said, and I believe, that people who determinedly represent their constituents are only doing the job they were elected to do. I can respect and work with colleagues who approach their responsibilities that way. We won’t agree on everything, but I do think we can find common ground on some issues. I think that is how you can get things done.