Barone: States choose own paths with one-party governments

The Washington Examiner ^ | November 25, 2012 | Michael Barone

[Cincinatus' Wife]

In Washington, Americans have two-party government, with a Democratic president and Senate and a Republican House. We had it before November's election and will have it again for the next two years.

Looking back from 2014, we will have had two-party government for most of the preceding two decades, for six years of Bill Clinton's presidency, three and a half years of George W. Bush's and four years of Barack Obama's.

But in most of the 50 states, American voters seem to have opted for something very much like one-party government.

Starting next month, Americans in 25 states will have Republican governors and Republicans in control of both houses of the state legislatures. They aren't all small states either. They include about 53 percent of the nation's population.

At the same time, Americans in 15 states will have Democratic governors and Democrats in control of both houses of the state legislatures. They include about 37 percent of the nation's population.

That leaves only 10 percent in states in which neither party is in control.

The Republican edge is largely a result of the Republican trend in 2009 and 2010. Normally you would expect the Democrats to recoup and shift the balance the next time they have a good off-year. Maybe they will in 2014.

But what's striking now is the wide margins in legislatures for one party or the other in state after state -- most of them, in fact.....

.....States are laboratories of democracy, Justice Louis Brandeis wrote. Citizens of every state can monitor their experiments and judge which set of one-party states is getting better results.

[OldPossum]

I’d be happy if senators actually represented the states they come from.

In a wonderful, wonderful time long, long ago, they did. Then the Constitution was changed.

[cripplecreek]

There was a thread about the 17th amendment posted the other day. Sadly it appears that many FReepers either don’t know what it did or worse yet, know what it did and happily support it.

In my opinion, it was just popular vote snake oil for senators who no longer support their states.