While the day to day activities of both the Senate and House are greatly influenced by the leadership, in neither body is the leader a dictator. Becoming the leader requires a two step process. First, his party must have a majority of the body as a whole and that is gained through an election in the various states and districts. After the general election, there is a second election within the party caucus for the leader. Winning that election requires a majority of the caucus vote, not a majority of the body as a whole. In effect, the leader is elected by a majority of the majority or 25% plus of the total membership of the body.
The reason a RINO is preferable to a democrat is in the first election to determine which party caucus with select the ultimate leader. For instance, you could elect 48 clones of Ted Cruze or Mike Lee and 52 democrats and Harry Reid would still dominate the Senate. On the other hand, you could elect 26 reliably conservative republicans and 25 RINO’s and the conservative members would control the agenda. In reality, the political philosophy of any one Senator is not nearly as important to advancement of the conservative cause as is the party affiliation of that Senator. While a RINO may not be preferable to a Tea Party senator, he is always better for the conservative cause than a conservative democrat. Exercising political power is not about hurt feelings or bragging rights, or about heroes and villains, it is about establishing winning coalitions with sufficient common interest to serve the public interest. No one gets everything they want but those who can’t compromise often lose everything.
The point that often gets missed in these discussions is that the most important aspect of Senate control is the committee chairs. A chairman of a Senate committee, especially the committees that control the purse strings are the most powerful people in Washington. When they are Democrats, the press ignore them and let them do their dirty work. If the Republicans take control, the press will take up the hue and cry about what evil deeds they are doing.
“The reason a RINO is preferable to a democrat is in the first election to determine which party caucus with select the ultimate leader. For instance, you could elect 48 clones of Ted Cruze or Mike Lee and 52 democrats and Harry Reid would still dominate the Senate. On the other hand, you could elect 26 reliably conservative republicans and 25 RINO’s and the conservative members would control the agenda. In reality, the political philosophy of any one Senator is not nearly as important to advancement of the conservative cause as is the party affiliation of that Senator. While a RINO may not be preferable to a Tea Party senator, he is always better for the conservative cause than a conservative democrat.”
I agree with you. But I and a lot of others are tired of the one way street. We are told that we have to vote for the republican, no matter how moderate, but then we see Lisa Murkowski refuse to vote for the republican and run an independent campaign. The same with Charlie Crist. John Warner endorsed the democrat this year. Richard Lugar endorsed the democrat this year. WE are all told to bite the bullet, that a moderate republican is better than the democrat, but nothing is said of these people or to these people. And there are numerous other examples. And the answer seems to be “shut up and support the republican, no matter how bad or how much he will betray you because we need the senate back!”