Fun thought experiment from Philip Bump, with the breakdown looking like this:
The Liberals
House minority leader: Nancy Pelosi
Senate minority leader: Elizabeth WarrenHouse caucus: 129 members
Senate caucus: 21 members
Likely electoral votes: 175The Democrats
House minority leader: Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)
Senate minority leader: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)House caucus: 42 members
Senate caucus: 23 members
Likely electoral votes: 7The Republicans
House Speaker: John Boehner
Senate majority leader: Mitch McConnellHouse caucus: 143 members
Senate caucus: 27 members
Likely electoral votes: 240The Conservatives
House minority leader: Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.)
Senate minority leader: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)House caucus: 60 members
Senate caucus: 21 members
Likely electoral votes: 83
First takeaway: The Real World Democrats are owned nearly lock, stock, and barrel by the far left of the party. The far right of the GOP has far less clout.
Second takeaway: This is very much a center-right nation, and libertarians have a long, long way to go.
Third takeaway: A parliamentary-style congress might lead to even deeper disfunction than Washington has now — or do you think it would give party leaders more room to maneuver outside of the traditional Dem/GOP divide?
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