[Rick Lee]

I think there's an old Abe Lincoln quote that goes something like, "Any man can overcome adversity. If you want to test a man's character, give him power."

I'm not sure a politician should follow whatever his/her constituents want. We live in a republic, not a democracy. We elect folks for a term to represent us. If we wanted real democracy, the Internet makes that almost possible nowadays. I'd rather have someone I agree with on most issues who votes their conscience when in Congress or wherever than someone who votes however the wind blows.

How many of us can really keep on top of every single issue like farm subsidies, trade negotiations, military procurement, Medicare spending, VA hospitals, bio-tech ethics, missile defense tech, etc.? That stuff is complicated even if you really follow politics and that's why we have people take care of that stuff for us. If there were a national poll that asked if we want the gubmint to take care everyone without health insurance, I bet the majority would vote yes. But then look at what it would cost, which is what our elected officials have to figure out and I bet most people would then say no. Look at Bush's popularity ratings over the years. He used to be at over 60% in the honesty rating. Now he's under 40%. Does that mean he just started lying in the meantime or that people's perception of him and his policies has changed over the years due to the Bush-hating media? So I would not want the general public running day to day stuff. I'm not saying our current crop of pols excites me either. We just need very strict term limits and a flat tax to revamp our entire political culture. But then, that's something that's popular with most people and not with our politicians. Go figure.