Politico is out with a piece on Sen. Jim DeMint’s outsized influence over South Carolina Members of Congress today. I was astonished by just how servilely compliant the Reps are.
This graph struck me as especially interesting:
“You’d be politically naive if you vote differently from Sen. DeMint and can’t explain why,” said [Rep. Trey] Gowdy, the lone political newcomer in the delegation. “Now, I have, but he gives us the courtesy of [explaining] the other side. Not in a condescending, ‘you guys had better watch out’ kind of way. Sometimes his response is, ‘Either vote is defensible. Do what you think is right.’”
(Emphasis mine.)
… So if a duly elected Member of Congress votes differently from Senator DeMint, they have to explain why? (At least he gives them the courtesy of allowing them to explain themselves …)
The word “obsequious” comes to mind. More:
… They all seem to vote the same way that Jim votes,” said GOP consultant Warren Tompkins.