Would you rather have a senator who votes his/her conscience

[AVID]

or one who votes to represent his constituency (even if he/she might not totally agree with vote.)

[katinmn]

1. Conscience, as long as they are well informed

[Dez]

2. Unfortunately

they don't seem to have a conscience. They are too preoccupied with remaining in power.

[electropop]

6. Fortunately for us

those who worry only about remaining in power will eventually find that it backfires and they are tossed out of power.

[lojasmo]

3. conscience, absolutely.

Our leaders are supposed to be both well informed and conscientious....it is obvious that the constituency is neither.

[Cuban_Liberal]

4. A good senator does both.

The most valuable 'stock in trade' any senator or representative has is his/her best judgment. Some times that will result in a vote that is popular with the folks back home, and some times it will p*ss them off. A long as my senator is sincerely using his/her best judgment, I can cut them a lot of slack when I disagree with a given vote they've cast.

[electropop]

5. I don't think there's often a disparity.

If the voters are well informed (and this is partly the oficial's responsibility), and all listen to their consciences, it's win/win. Unfortunately, GOPs have been training the electorate that 'greed is good' and they should ignore those annoying conscience things. Even this charade will eventually fail as voters realize that the greed being encouraged is only for the top 1%.

[politicat]

7. Both.

I don't want them voting for something that is both bad for us and our will (i.e. voting for tort reform, because many people are poorly educated on this issue) or voting against something that is good for us and necessary, but unpopular (i.e. When Johnson had to go against his Texas, segregationist constituents and vote for the several civil rights bills).

I am okay with conscience when I trust the politician - Here in Colorado, I know that Mark Udall behaves in the best interest of my district. He's made a few decisions that I disagreed with initially, until I saw how they fell out. However, I have yet to come to trust Ken Salazar, and so I want him voting constituency until we have a better relationship with him as a Senator.

Pcat