Sunday, April 04, 2010

OH GREAT, Kay Bailey Hutchison isn’t retiring. Washington Post opinion writer Johnathon Capehart is “happy” Hutchison is remaining in the Senate:

I know I urged her to do this, but as far as breaking a promise goes, this was pretty lame. Why can't pols just say, "I really don't want to spend more time with my family" or "I changed my mind" or "Look, I need the job" and leave it at that?

Nevertheless, it's good Hutchison is sticking around. Had she left she would have given Gov. Rick Perry, the guy who trounced her in the Republican gubernatorial primary, the opportunity to pick her replacement. It also would have meant that 26.6 percent of the American people would have been represented in the Senate by people they didn't actually vote for.

Um, a couple of teeny, tiny facts seem to escape Johathon. First, Texas has only about 7.5% of the U.S. population of 300 million, not 26.6%. So who are the “unelected” Senators who represent that remaining 19.1%? Well, lookie here. There are 6 “unelected” senators currently serving in the U.S. Senate. They are:

Roland W. Burris (D-IL)
Edward E. Kauffman (D-DE)
Michael F. Bennet (D-CO)
Kirsten E. Gillerand (D-NY)
Paul G. Kirk (D-MA)
George E. LeMieux (R-FL)

Five of the six are Democrats. Do they necessarily not represent the citizens who were unable to vote for them? Well, maybe, as Scott P. Brown (R-MA) was elected to replace appointed Democrat Paul G. Kirk.

As an “edjumaketed” man, Capehart may be unaware of this tidbit of “faux history.” Each state has two (that’s right, two) senators, elected by state-wide vote. Since none of the 57 50 states has two appointees, that means that 100% percent of the American electorate has at least one duly elected senator.

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