States With the Best/Worst Senate/House Delegations

[Q]

Which state do you think has the best Senate delegation?  The worst?  The best House delegation?  The worst?

I think some of these might have been asked before, but here they are all in one place.  Feel free to list more than one for each category.

I thought this would be a better index than merely the best and worst Senators and Representatives.

My vote:

Best Senate
1. Oregon
2. North Dakota
3. Maine
4. Rhode Island

Worst Senate
1. Oklahoma
2. Kentucky
3. Alaska
Chambliss and DeMint make Georgia and South Carolina candidates, but Isakson and Graham help to redeem them.

Best House
1. Delaware
2. New Hampshire
3. the Dakotas
4. California
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).

Worst House
1. Texas (nuts from the left and the right - a rare distinction)
2. New Jersey (obviously)
3. Wyoming (the sole Representative needs to actually do some representing)

[Q]

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.

[Q]

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.

[Q]

I guess small states have an advantage - they don't generally elect any extremists (Vermont obviously excluded). 

Bernie Sanders is beloved by the people of Vermont because he represents their best economic and social interests. He is truly a champion of the people. He will win Jeffords' Senate seat in 2006 by a very large margin because the people trust him and know he is on their side.

I wish he was my representative.

Oh, I don't doubt that at all.  Sanders seems to be right-on for Vermont, but still, he's an extremist, no matter how you look at it.  He'll be a good Senator for VT even still.