In our Congress chapter, we discuss how legislators make decisions.
A recent National Journal article by Cameron Joseph offers some fascinating insights into the House vote on health care legislation:
In Sunday's vote, Democrats' decisions closely aligned to President Obama's popularity in their districts. The proportion of senior citizens living in the district also appeared to influence the decisions, but there was essentially no correlation between the vote and the percent of population in a district that lacked health insurance.....
- 30 of the 34 Democrats who voted against the bill hail from districts wherObama's share of the vote was lower than his national average of 53 percent...
- 24 of 125 Democrats in districts with more citizens aged 65 or older than the 12.6 percent national average opposed the health care bill. That means 20 percent of Democrats from senior-heavy districts opposed the bill...
- 94 of 110 Democrats in districts above the 15 percent national uninsured rate supported the bill.
- 125 of 143 Democrats in districts below the national average supported the bill.
