Congress v. Constituents: Why represent us if you're not voting for us?

Republican Representative Anh “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana was interviewed by CNN’s Don Lemon today and vocalized that he would not be voting the way that his constituents want him to vote.

Cao was the only representative to vote “yes” in November and is now planning to vote against the Senate bill. He believes that it is not wrong to vote against what his constituents want, but it is wrong to vote against his conscience.

Who are they voting for?

Cao says there is a lot of pressure exerted on congressional members to vote in one specific way or another, but that they need to vote based on the necessity of the district without going against their own moral belief. Consequently, it essentially comes down to a battle between their conscience or their constituents.

Because of this exact predicament, being a politician is not meant for just anyone. Most politicians don’t know how to separate their personal thoughts from policy making. It usually always turns out that Congressional members do what they feel is right on a personal and/or religious level and not what they were placed in Congress to do; represent their constituents.

“My vote is a no, because the Senate bill has a less restrictive language of abortion than the House bill,” said Cao, “abortion is not an issue that I can compromise, because I feel it is a moral wrong.”

Cao now faces the possibility of having his constituents, who are mostly Democratic and who support the bill, turn against him. With due cause, if a politician is elected to represent a certain group of constituents, then that’s exactly what the people expect and when they don’t see that happening it makes them question why they elected that official in the first place. More likely than not, they will also make it a point to not re-elect that same official in the next election.

Tweaking bills changes the probability of votes

Every bill, no matter how big or small, is always tweaked.; no bill passes the way that it is initially written. The concern is whether or not the current tweaking of the Senate has completely distorted the original version of the bill or if the bill is still redeemable.

When asked if he believed that the bill will be passed, Representative Cao paused and then replied with a simple “I don’t know.”

There are just 24 hours left before the historic vote on the Senate’s plan and it the tension is thick between American citizens and their Representatives.

Currently, 32 House Democrats plan on voting against the bill. A total of 38 “no” votes are needed to defeat the bill. That means only 6 more Democrats need to vote against the Senate plan in order to “kill the bill.”

President Obama’s final push

In attempt to push this bill through and get a “yes” vote from House Democrats, President Obama personally went to Capital Hill today to talk to the Representatives. He stated that it is possible that many of the Congressional leaders may face threat to lose their seats for supporting the bill, but it is also possible that after the bill is approved and signed into law that people will realize the benefit of the reform.

“I can’t guarantee that this is good politics. Every one of you know your constituents better than I do," Obama stated, “I know the pressure you’re on. I get a few comments made about me; I don’t know if you’ve noticed. I’ve had to be in your shoes before; I know what it’s like to make a hard vote,” he told House Democrats.

President Obama reaffirmed his feelings on the issue saying, “I’m not bound to win, but I’m bound to be true.”

Uncertainty hangs in the air as the nation awaits the final verdict on Obama’s health care reform tomorrow.

Following the vote on TV

For a complete play by play on the vote, make sure to watch Candy Crowley on CNN tomorrow morning at 8:00/9:00 ET and later at 7:00/8:00 ET.

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