If you were in Congress, what would you do if...

[Indy Texas]

You are traveling to your home district for the weekend and have a very tight schedule. One of your aides tells you that you have just enough time to schedule one more meeting.

Two constituents have requested meetings with you. You only have time to meet with one.

One is the head of a trade group whose members include several companies with operations in your district. This group gave $20,000 to your campaign PAC in the last election and has hinted at future donations of similar magnitude. He is interested in discussing a regulatory bill that could raise the costs of his business, and some federal contracts that other members of the group want to bid on.

The other is a single mother whose child has a very rare illness and must take a pharmaceutical drug that costs her hundreds of dollars a month. The drug can be found much cheaper in Canada and Europe, but the US doesn't allow the importation of the drug. This woman has never made a donation to your campaign but wants to draw your attention to the benefits of allowing Americans to purchase drugs for less money from abroad.

Do you:

Option 1 - Meet with the trade association representative.
Option 2 - Meet with the woman with the ill child.

Would you choose differently if neither person had donated any money to your campaign?
Would you choose differently if the businessman had not made a contribution but the mother had donated $20,000?