what type of legislator is your congresscritter?

[freepcrusher]

something i learned in polisci class years ago is that people in a legislature (whether it be state or national) are in three camps: Advertisers, Reluctants and Lawmakers.

An advertiser is someone who is there to promote an ideology and many times could care less about the legislating part and are more rhetoric oriented than results.

A reluctant is someone who often comes from a rural or poor area where no one else wanted to run for the position so they were kind of asked to do so. They do what they're supposed to do and isn't well known and doesn't try to attract attention. Very much a "shut up and vote" type person.

A lawmaker is the "20% that does 80%." These people have often been there for decades and know how the game works and works hard to try to get legislation passed.

For myself, here is how I would classify them

U.S. House Rep: Janice Hahn. She's been there for less than a year and know next to nothing about her

Senator (I): Dianne Feinstein. Probably a lawmaker.

Senator (II): Barbara Boxer: kind of borderline between an advertiser and lawmaker.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

I don't think there is such a thing as a "reluctant" member of Congress.

[freepcrusher]

I don't think there is such a thing as a "reluctant" member of Congress.

well maybe a better term is "backbencher" or "invisible". An example of someone would be like Tom Latham of Iowa or Bob Aderholt of Alabama.

[Torie]

My Congressman is a back bencher, but a highly influential one, who is a mix of a legislator, and promoter (he was in the car dealership trade), who works the conservative talk show circuit, but prudentially avoids getting enmeshed in social issues, preferring to work the economics/fiscal side of things, and to his credit, is against Mittens' gun boats galore plank. I will now have a new one given redistricting, who is a showboater mostly, and not a legislator, and not really very respected or influential, but has been there forever, and has an ideologue background, but moved from being a dope smoking libertarian, to one who thinks porn is one of the US's major challenges, or did, and now has moved on to the idea, that we need to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran, and sooner rather than later.

[Donerail]

Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young: lawmaker; he's been up there for 40 some years, a good chunk of that time (20 years?) on Appropriations (I believe his record is $167 mil to his district in pork in a year).

Senator C.W. "Bill" Nelson: lawmaker; seems to be a pragmatist and a moderate.

Senator Marco Rubio: advertiser, tea party darling, etc, etc, etc.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

I don't think there is such a thing as a "reluctant" member of Congress.

well maybe a better term is "backbencher" or "invisible". An example of someone would be like Tom Latham of Iowa or Bob Aderholt of Alabama.

That's a better term.

Scott Rigell - he's in a big class of Republican freshmen, and he hasn't really done anything of note aside from back off his "no raising taxes ever" pledge he made when he was running. So I'll go with the backbencher/invisible.

Mark Warner and Jim Webb - definitely not ideologues, and for a one-termer, Webb has had a pretty accomplished tenure. Both are lawmakers.

[Svensson]

Rep. Mark Amodei: Generic backbench Republican. That's pretty much about it.

Sen. Harry Reid: The sort of high-key legislator that makes you wish the state Republicans knew how the hell to choose candidates.

Sen. Dean Heller: Low-key generic R with the occasional blue moon dash of libertarianism (most strikingly his nay on the PATRIOT Act renewal). Unremarkable, but uncontroversial. Not worth going up in arms to defeat.

[Vosem]

You've all heard of my man Kucinich. I'd actually grown quite attached to him in spite of my Republican ways, encouraged some people to vote for him over Kaptur.

[ajc0918]

Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young: lawmaker; he's been up there for 40 some years, a good chunk of that time (20 years?) on Appropriations (I believe his record is $167 mil to his district in pork in a year).

Senator C.W. "Bill" Nelson: lawmaker; seems to be a pragmatist and a moderate.

Senator Marco Rubio: advertiser, tea party darling, etc, etc, etc.

We live in the same district!

[Keystone Phil]

Ugh, I won't even bother with my House member (or my new one as of 2013) or one of my Senators but my personal bias aside, Senator Toomey has been a true leader in his year and a half on the job so far. His freshman year is definitely one of the most impressive for a member of the Senate and he's seen by all sides as a fair, mainstream voice. Words can't describe how proud I am of him.

[bgwah]

Dave Reichert is a backbencher.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Keith Ellison would probably be an advertiser.

[Seattle]

Jim McDermott seems to me a little of them all, but I'd put him as a legislator.

[Napoleon]

Larson is a "lawmaker" for sure but I dislike him for supporting SOPA.

Dave Reichert is a backbencher.

I thought you would be more urban than that Bgwah!

[Nutmeg]

EHN is pretty much an "advertiser." Not being allowed to vote in this Congress once again would make being a "lawmaker" pretty difficult in any event, even if her intent were to be such, which I kind of doubt.

Senator Toomey has been a true leader in his year and a half on the job so far. His freshman year is definitely one of the most impressive for a member of the Senate and he's seen by all sides as a fair, mainstream voice. Words can't describe how proud I am of him.

What has Toomey been up to? I really haven't been following him.

[Torie]

EHN is pretty much an "advertiser." Not being allowed to vote in this Congress once again would make being a "lawmaker" pretty difficult in any event, even if her intent were to be such, which I kind of doubt.

Senator Toomey has been a true leader in his year and a half on the job so far. His freshman year is definitely one of the most impressive for a member of the Senate and he's seen by all sides as a fair, mainstream voice. Words can't describe how proud I am of him.

What has Toomey been up to? I really haven't been following him.

His most press covered feather in his cap was being selected to be on the bipartisan Congressional conference group which was supposed to try to agree to something other than the 1 trillion in automatic cuts by last November (which kick in not until next year it turns out, so the whole thing was smoke and mirrors with no teeth), but failed.  He is obviously respected and trusted by his peers. Phil deserves to be proud really.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

John Olver (current MA-01): Lawmaker. Definitely lawmaker.
Jim McGovern (future MA-02): Don't know enough about him yet, strikes me as somewhat of a wash between the three, perhaps defaulting to reluctant but also seems to have advertiser attributes.
John Kerry: Lawmaker, though makes a decent advertiser in a pinch.
Scott Brown: Weird sort of reluctant advertiser, if that makes any sense. He's kind of forced to be a standard-bearer for a certain type of diffident Yankee conservatism that doesn't really exist any more and that he doesn't seem like a natural fit for.

[Keystone Phil]

EHN is pretty much an "advertiser." Not being allowed to vote in this Congress once again would make being a "lawmaker" pretty difficult in any event, even if her intent were to be such, which I kind of doubt.

Senator Toomey has been a true leader in his year and a half on the job so far. His freshman year is definitely one of the most impressive for a member of the Senate and he's seen by all sides as a fair, mainstream voice. Words can't describe how proud I am of him.

What has Toomey been up to? I really haven't been following him.

Torie nailed what got Toomey the most attention but the Senator also came up with his only version of the budget, which received more votes than any other introduced in the Senate. Going back to the debt ceiling crisis, he also authored the Full Faith and Credit Act (his first piece of legislation).

[minionofmidas]

The invisible type.

[they don't love you like i love you]

The invisible type.

What party?

[Miles]

Out of my 2 states, Sue Myrick is probably the biggest advertiser. Landrieu is pretty nonpartisan in her rhetoric and is a real lawmaker, while Hagan just kinda votes the party line. Vitter is more of an advertiser than Burr.

[Zioneer]

Well, I live in Utah's 3rd congressional district, but where I live has become part of the new 4th district, so I'll do both, along with the Senators.

Jason Chaffetz (UT-03): Very much an advertiser, he's a wunderkind of the Tea Party and loves to proclaim his conservative values. He's also an arrogant, preening fool in my opinion.

The two 4th district candidates are Jim Matheson and Mia Love, a Democrat and Republican respectively.

Jim Matheson: He's a mix between back-bencher and lawmaker. He hasn't actually done a lot of lawmaking, but he likes to be considered a key vote for either side. Still, he's also a conservative Utah Democrat that only hangs on by the skin of his teeth, and has no real opportunity for advancement, so he's definitely a guy who's just hanging around. He also likes to preen and proclaim his "independent" nature (read; a Democrat that votes like a Republican).

Mia Love: Even more than Chaffetz, she's an advertiser; she's running as the (black, Mormon, Republican) woman who can finally take down Jim Matheson, and who will be a Tea Party foot soldier. Unlike Chaffetz and Matheson, she seems to be somewhat humble, but she's still very much a Tea Partier and thus I do not support her.

Senator Orrin Hatch: Lawmaker with the faded aura of an advertiser. He used to be the conservative firebrand, then he became the respected elder statesman that cuts deals, and now he's trying to be a firebrand again.

Senator Mike Lee: Advertiser to the core. He's authored no successful legislation, he voted against the debt ceiling, and he's spent much of his time filibustering and blocking President Obama's nominees for various offices, even though he admits that those candidates are otherwise qualified. He only wants to block them because they're Obama nominees. He's also a preening arrogant fool, like Chaffetz.

[Indy Texas]

U.S. House:

Until 2013 (pre-redistricting): Ted Poe (R-TX-2) - somewhere between advertiser and reluctant

After 2013 (post-redistricting): Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18) - definitely an advertiser

U.S. Senate:

Kay Bailey Hutchison: very much a lawmaker; will be sorry when she retires after this year

John Cornyn: reluctant in the sense that he seems to live in perpetual fear of displeasing both his party's establishment and the Tea Party; he's in a leadership role but doesn't do much leading

[freepcrusher]

if you guys are discussing whose district you will next be put in, then I might as well too. Assuming he wins re-election (which is almost guaranteed) my next rep will be Henry Waxman. He's definitely of the lawmaker variety. He's been in office for 38 years and has chaired two committees.

[they don't love you like i love you]

For the rest of my offices:

Sen. Amy Klobuchar - lawmaker
Sen. Al Franken - He's kind of in his own category, but advertiser is closest
State Sen. Jeff Hayden - backbencher
State Rep. Karen Clark - lawmaker, can become an advertiser whenever some GLBT issue arises (is a lesbian).