“I have a constitutional duty to make the right decision for my district whether or not the decision was popular.”
When was the last time we heard that? It gets better. “I had to make a decision based on the needs of the people in my district…a lot of my constituents are uninsured, a lot of them are poor.” BOOM! Game over. Mr. Cao, a freshman republican from New Orleans just did the unthinkable–he voted to to help the people who ELECTED HIM. What a concept. Not an ideologue, not someone in it for personal gain. Mr. Cao just broke the mold of the modern American politician left and right–HE VOTED ON PRINCIPAL! I would vote for Mr. Cao because I have not heard these words out of anyone with integrity for so long. He went against his party and he will probably not be elected again.
We might be at the beginning of a movement here. Could it be called the play of the INDEPENDENT.
Mr. Cao might be onto something here. Fed up with politicians tied to ideologies regardless of consequence…there might be a new sheriff in town. Mr. Cao said he went over the entire health care bill and then made his decision. Then he ducked reporters and left. He will pay a price. He will be vilified by his own party for his vote. He will be the target of ideologues who can crank ratings over his defection.
But it is a flower among the ice…I mean, here is a man who actually did what he was elected to do. He did what was best for his constituents and put his personal views aside. Now that is novel. Someone who puts the good of the people over the good of the individual. We have lost site of these type of people. In our cruddy promote thyself at any cost with book deals movie deals show deals it is nothing short of amazing to hear Mr. Cao state clearly why people are elected and sent to Washington. For the people. Not the special interests. Not the ideologues. Not what is current or popular or will win favor with the political bosses.
We can only hope Mr. Cao will rise up because of his vote. Maybe the cool thing will then become to place a vote that benefits the people you represent and not talking heads, the media, the handlers, the corporations…just the people. I suppose Mr. Cao might be called old fashion, because he really believes in representative democracy.
William Hazelgrove writes in Ernest Hemingway’s attic. http://www.billhazelgrove.com
His lastest book is Rocket Man.
I see a crucifixion coming but some of those who are crucified have a handy little trick of arising from the dead.
Ken Livingstone, the British MP and former Mayor of London, was aboslutely loathed by his Labour Party whips. He just simply refused to follow the party line when he didn’t agree with it. The vilification campaign against him was spectacular. You really have to watch these parliamentary whips in action. They are murderous. I would guess that the US ones are considerably worse.
He will be fine. As much as his party will hate this, his district will love him for it. The Republican party is already worried (the democrats should be as well) that the tight hold the conservative right wing has on the party is actually going to end up making the party smaller. There was a big story around here right after the election that a moderate Republican candidate for the legislature got tired of being “muscled” by the far right and dropped out of the race and threw all her votes to the Democrat running against her. It did my heart good.
I hope Mr. Cao has a long and prosperous career. He already has a legacy.