The republicans did this in Illinois. There was a district based in Lake County that was heavily republican but was mostly moderate to liberal Chuck Percy type republicans. Yet they would vote for ted bundy if it had an R next to its name. In 1969, they voted in archconservative Phil Crane. It took the voters 35 years to realize that a nutcase was representing them.
First of all, Phil Crane might have been conservative, but he was no "nutcase". I am sick and tired of you so-called "progressives" labeling those with whom you disagree as "nutcases", while idolizing far-lefties like Alan Grayson and Pete Stark. Either all on the ideological extremes are "nutcases" or none are. Second, Illinois suburbanites were far more conservative in the 1970s and 1980s than they are today. And when the district started to trend more liberal in the 1990s, Crane DID face primaries from moderates - and won those races. So it's not like his constituents didn't have a choice. Third, you know who Phil Crane succeeded as Congressman? Donald Rumsfeld. That should tell you everything you need to know about Crane's district in 1969.
