Reply #22: I think Congressional voting records can separate Republicans

[hedgehog]

from Democrats most of the time, but they don't tell us much about the range within the party.

For example, say both candidates voted for, I don't know, a bill to put parks near every school. A and B are the same, right? But what the voting record doesn't tell you is that Candidate A fought to make sure the parks were equipped with up-to-the date equipment and a nature corner while Candidate B worked with Republicans to trim those items from the bill A is good and B is bad, right? But maybe B trimmed the bill because that was the only way to get it passed and B figured build the parks first, then get the equipment installed next year. Maybe A was trying to kill the bill by loading it up like a Christmas tree. And what do we learn about C who expressed no opinion but supported the final bill? Sometimes what goes on in Congress is too complex and the differences are too subtle to explain in a simple voting record.