States With the Best/Worst Senate/House Delegations

[socaldem]

I guess small states have an advantage - they don't generally elect any extremists (Vermont obviously excluded).  California has a lot of good people on both sides of the aisle (and with 53 of them, there are easliy enough good ones to outweigh such unsavory types as Pelosi, Dreier, and Duke).

One can't really outweigh Maxine Waters, Pete Stark, Duke Cunningham, Nancy Pelosi, and the like.

Haha, perhaps .  I forgot about Waters (and by "Duke," I meant Cunningham - maybe I was thinking of David Duke or something), but with 45+ decent or mostly-decent Reps, the ratio of good to bad is still much higher than most states.

I'd like to know who from the CA delegation you have in mind as the outstanidng members.... I like quite a few of them, but then I'm probably well to the left of you...

Why does everyone hate NJ so?   Sure, Ferguson sucks, as does Garrett, but the rest of the Republicans aren't bad at all as far as Republicans go...  On the Dem side, there's Rush Holt who I like a lot, and Rothman, who strikes me as a pretty unoffensive guy.  Are Andrews, Pallone, Menendez, and Payne that bad?  And I think Corzine's a good guy...

I also don't get the criticism of Texas as a bunch of extremists...perhaps that is true today, but before 2004, Texas had a wealth of solid Dem representation and they still have ol' Chet Edwards and a bunch of relatively moderate South Texan hispanic representation...

[socaldem]

Best Senate: Illinois, Vermont
Worst Senate: South Carolina, Oklahoma

Best House: Massachusetts, California
Worst House: Ohio (minus Sherrod Brown, Marcy Kaptur, and Tim Ryan), Idaho

What about Ted Strickland? 

[socaldem]

I'd like to know who from the CA delegation you have in mind as the outstanidng members.... I like quite a few of them, but then I'm probably well to the left of you...
Why does everyone hate NJ so?   Sure, Ferguson sucks, as does Garrett, but the rest of the Republicans aren't bad at all as far as Republicans go...  On the Dem side, there's Rush Holt who I like a lot, and Rothman, who strikes me as a pretty unoffensive guy.  Are Andrews, Pallone, Menendez, and Payne that bad?  And I think Corzine's a good guy...
I also don't get the criticism of Texas as a bunch of extremists...perhaps that is true today, but before 2004, Texas had a wealth of solid Dem representation and they still have ol' Chet Edwards and a bunch of relatively moderate South Texan hispanic representation...

When I refer to best and worst politicians, I think of that as a combination both of policy positions as well as the general feeling that person gives me.  Someone with great policy positions who is rabidly partisan and a propagandist cannot win my favor; likewise someone with whom I disagree on many issues but who is a wise statesman(or woman) of both humility and leadership qualities is someone I will respect.

A few months ago, in an act borne out of extreme boredom, I looked at the websites of almost every member of the current Congress.  I just remember being impressed with Western members of Congress so much more than their Southern counterparts.  They seem a lot more consensus-driven, rather than those who focus on the divisive social issues that I think the government has no business in anyway.  I guess the Californians and other Westerners just seem less ideological and more practical.

New Jersey politicians just seem dirty to me.  I suppose it's somewhat irrational.  But nonetheless, no New Jerseyian in Congress strikes me as a model of conviction.

And on Texas, I think of Delay and Jackson-Lee on their respective sides.  People like Lloyd Doggett and Chet Edwards are great, but then there's that slew of something like 7 new Republican Reps, most of whom were only elected due to the letter after their name.  Unsavory.

Well, I suppose I'll have to agree with you on Texas... I still think Rush Holt of NJ is a good guy...

I do think California has some good representation in the House.... Los Angeles' Dem Reps. Waxman, Berman, Watson, Becerra, Harman, Schiff, Napolitano, and Roybal-Allard are all pretty good...  I like Loretta Sanchez, though others find her controversial, but I don't know about her sister.   Waters, though, is something else, and Millender-McDonald is kinda do-nothing.  Dreier is definitely effective, though I don't like him because he's rules chairman which means I hold him responsible for a lot of the crap going on in the congress.  Bakersfield's Bill Thomas is also definitely a good congressman, though grouchy, who I'd like to see, nevertheless, playing for the opposite team as a ranking minority member of important committees.  I can do without some of Orange county Republicans.  

Other stand-ups include Lois Capps, Tom Lantos, Ellen Tauscher, Matsui (both Bob and the new congresswoman), Eshoo, and Susan Davis...  and I kinda like Pelosi, though not as a party leader...

We could, however, do without Berkeley's Representative, ol' Duke Cunningham, Richard Pombo, and Pete Stark...

[socaldem]

Best Senate: Arkansas
Worst Senate: Oklahoma (despite me matching Inhofe at no5 in top 10 Senators but Coburn's a fruit)

Huh?  How can anyone possibly like Inhofe?

[socaldem]

Best Senate: Arkansas
Worst Senate: Oklahoma (despite me matching Inhofe at no5 in top 10 Senators but Coburn's a fruit)

Huh?  How can anyone possibly like Inhofe?

*Ahem*  Inhofe -Staunch Conservative on social issues.  Take a look at Oklahoma.  It's a lot different than SoCal.

I realize right-wing Oklahomans may like him, but someone who claims to side with Democrats on the forum? 

I suppose Inhofe gets credit for his efforts in the House to force transparency on discharge petitions.  But that effort is  more than counteracted by his offenses as a senator, particularly against the environment in his capacity as chair of the environment and natural resources committee...

[socaldem]

First off, I'm a moderate (as most Southern Dems are).  I don't like Inhofe and completely disagree with his stance on environmental issues, but I am saying that Oklahomans are generally more conservative than Californians and will vote for an extreme social conservative like Inhofe.  That's all.

Sure....my response above is more aimed at Dave, who claimed to highly regard Inhofe, not at you...

Though I'm personally liberal on all fronts, I like pragmatic moderates of all stripes and would like to see a populist (socially moderate, economically liberal) Democratic party fighting a traditionally liberal (socially moderate, economically conservative) Republican party... I would continue to be a fairly staunch Democrat in such a system though crossing party lines would not be as unthinkable as it is today...

That said, I appreciate southern democrats like yourself and welcome to the forum...you appear to be fairly new (as am I), though you may have, of course, have lurked around for quite a while without posting...