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Spend some time in Congress, you'll understand. Everything from committee assignments to leadership positions to office size/location are bargaining chips. Heck, what do you think the "whips" do?
And of course the granddaddy, campaign money. Guys like Tom DeLay control vast amounts of money. They can make you or break you if you are an up and coming Congressman. And DeLay, to use an example, is brutal. If he goes after a Republican representative from a deep red district, they are dead meat.
It all comes down to leadership. That starts at the White House and flows through the Congressional leadership offices. There's no leadership from the President on fiscal matters -- there is no leadership from him on almost any subject you can think of. He is just plain awful.
Every once in a while, Karl Rove will wind him up for "the base." Gay marriage, stem cell, Terri Schiavo, blah blah. When the political work gets done, he goes back on vacation, or for a bike ride.
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