North Dakota Rep. Randy Boehning Outed as Gay After Voting Against Gay Rights

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11. I see it differently.

In a representative democracy, we entrust someone else to do the hard work of studying issues and compromising some things in order to get other things. It's not a perfect system, but it (a) offers some protection to vulnerable minorities from self-interested majorities and (b) saves us from ourselves, since most of us don't have the time or inclination to understand the intricacies of government. In this instance, however, I'd say it's more likely that a politician compromised his values out of fear of his constituents' homophobia.

I work in municipal government, in a city where this very evening, people are rallying in advance of a finance committee meeting because they think they want a 0% tax increase--something which would be more difficult and painful to achieve than they realize, given how our grand list has shrunk and fixed costs have risen. It is very hard to educate everyone on every issue. I would hate to be represented by someone who thought they had to do what the majority wanted on every issue.