By my count, 34 of the 53 members of the House of Representatives from California are Democrats, while none of the three representatives from Nebraska are Democrats. Yet, in the Senate, the ratio is 2:1. Put another way, California Democrats make up 8% of the House, but only 2% of the Senate, while Nebraska Democrats make up 0% of the House and 1% of the Senate. If the Senate had the same weight of representation as the House, Ben Nelson wouldn’t exist and there would be four Barbara Boxers and four Diane Feinsteins.
The situation is even starker for states like Massachusetts (10 Democrats, 0 Republicans) and New York (27 Democrats, 2 Republicans). That Kent Conrad has the same voting power as Chuck Schumer helps explain why the Senate Dems are not representative of the Democratic Party. This is always true, but it is particularly true in our current situation where the electorate gave the Democrats huge majorities and a president to get big things done. But they can’t be done. At least, they can’t be done the way we want them done. Add the 60 vote threshold for passing legislation, and the Senate is so far right of the party and the country that it’s a bad joke.
But the Founding Fathers didn’t trust the passions of the people. And they had to strike a deal to get the states to join the union. So, we have this undemocratic Senate that is opposed to change. You’d hope small state senators like Ben Nelson would have a little humility about holding up the president’s number one priority item. But it would be a false hope.
