We don't feel represented

When this country was originally founded, the House of Representatives was the People's hold on the government. The People are exclusively represented through the House, not the Senate and not the President. In fact, the Senate and President were originally decided by the States, typically through each State's legislature sending delegates (in the case of the President). It's actually why we still have the electoral college. Many people think this should just be removed - it's an outdated system from an old age when people couldn't communicate quickly over distances.

I've come to disagree with that. In fact, I disagree with the population having a direct say in Senate and Presidential races. As we saw in 2020, there was definitely too much widespread "voting irregularities" in several states that couldn't have happened if the delegates were still chosen by the State assemblies instead. Or, if you think 2020 was the safest and most secure election of democracy, then look no farther than 2016 and the years of accusing Trump of stealing the presidency through "Russian interference". I just wish we had as much investigation into the 2020 election as we did into the "Russian interference" - I wholly believe those "irregularities" would've uncovered fraud on levels that should scare us but doesn't anymore, like dead people voting in Chicago or over 100% of the population voting in a district.

Yes, corruption happens in state assemblies - but partly because our media doesn't want to focus on local politics anymore - it's too much work and not enough views. On top of that, shouldn't every citizen have a direct say on the President so we can be represented? Well, do you actually feel represented right now? Did you 4 years ago? Will you 4 years from now? As good as a President may be, I have never felt directly represented by a President in my lifetime, although Trump definitely did come closest to making me feel represented.

No, you are not represented by the president, and you should not have a direct say in president. It has caused (along with several other issues) a national divide in the culture of this country, one that rivals that of antebellum North vs South divide. Beyond that, no one feels represented in any adequate way in modern America. This is seen from top to bottom, left or right, Republican or Democrat, swing state or guaranteed state. If you believe Wikipedia (which I don't, but lets pretend it's somewhat accurate on this), the Biden's approval rate is ~40%. Trump's average was 41%. Obama and Bush averaged ~48%. What's the last president with close to a 70% approval rating for an entire term? FDR, Eisenhower & JFK were pretty close. By modern standard, Clinton was amazing, but his average approval is only 55%. For a leader, that's pitiful at best. Only half the country thinks your doing a good job? Maybe that's because the entire country feels like their only chance at being represented is through the President now - and good luck getting a single person to adequately represent 300+ million Americans in a real & personal way - not just various powerful special interests.

Is that why our presidential rating so low? Probably. No one feels adequately represented by their representative, so they place all their hopes of representation on the president now. Our president shouldn't be our representative. Our president should be our leader - someone who empowers the country and brings out it's best. At some point in the past century, Americans realized Congress - the House in particular - wasn't playing for them, and switched to putting all their hopes in the president instead. Instead of viewing the president as a leader of the country, we now view the president as a sort of super representative that might actually listen to us.

This isn't news. Conservatives have felt this for decades, with Congressional Republicans paying lip service to the pro-life message, tax code simplifications, budget & spending concerns, 2nd amendment concerns. How many prolifers began voting Democrat because "Republicans never did anything"? What happened to the TEA party when they brought about a red wave to Congress when Obamacare was passed? Obviously, the previous House did a bad and were voted out, but the new House just went back to same old business. Congress ignoring the TEA party movement led to the rise of the MAGA movement that accelerated Trump into the presidency - finally, someone who might actually listen to me.

After decades of the pro-life movement aiding Republicans, it took Trump, the most unexpected person, to setup the overturning of Roe v Wade. Even with the confirmation of Trumps 3rd supreme court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, pro-lifers were still reluctant to even hope that there could be a full overturn of Roe v Wade. And yes, I must admit, Mitch McConnell played his part well to delay the senate confirmation of the vacant seat until the election. Without that, Roe v Wade wouldn't have been overturned.

In other words, it took the President for the pro-life movement to get anything done on a national level, even after years of majority Republican held Congress. I'm sure Democrats feel similar frustration towards Democratic Congresses in recent years, which is why there's so much effort into propping Biden up into something that's somewhat coherent.

This country does not feel represented, and we place all our hopes of representation in the President. Is there a reason we don't feel represented? What has the House been doing for the last 100 years? Aren't they supposed to be representing us? Fighting for us? Do you feel like Congress fights for you?

I don't feel represented. I even have a good members in Congress from my state that represent me and my values, but it goes back to the commonly said problem - it's just one person mixed in a world of party politics of entrenched members who have been there for decades. Surely they won't let you come in and actually represent the Americans you represent.

I want to explore some of the reasons behind this lack of representation in modern Congress. We hear things like term limits thrown around, but will that solve the problem? When did American start feeling like Congress ignored them? My next post will dig a little deeper.