Reply #3: A simple head count does not tell the story...

[SaveElmer]

Any more than Willam Seward advocating putting a right to slavery in the constitution is reflective of his actual views towards slavery. He advocated such a thing, in direct contravention of his earlier, nearly abolitionist positions, in order to increase the viability of the Republican Party and to keep slavery out of western territories...

It is necessary to look at he political considerations each person goes through to see what the true motivation is, and to determine whether that person is just a hopeless right winger, or someone that can be worked with on other issues. There are always going to be some of the former, but there are going to be many more of the latter. Every legislator, no matter how much we may admire them, is going to disappoint you from time to time.