Legislators In Name Only
Although the term RINO (“Republican In Name Only”) is well known in American political lingo and to somewhat of a lesser degree DINO, I want to bring today another concept to mind….the Legislator In Name Only (LINO)! Although candidates for higher office get criticized for missing votes in their current station, especially those for president, the hard truth is that not by not doing so they almost guarantee loss. The case of the highly principled Congressman Thomas B. Curtis (R-Mo.) is demonstrative, as he lost his race for the Senate by two points in 1968 and may have pulled through had he not insisted on continuing to work his current job full-time during campaign season. However, candidates for higher office aren’t legislators in name only as they get right back to work after the contest, and it wouldn’t be fair to knock those absent on account of illness. We haven’t seen the like of the true LINO in many years but some of them were highly influential! For these guys, “representative” or “senator” was merely another title. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (D-N.Y.), who served from 1945 to 1967 and from 1969 to 1971, was criticized for absenteeism for missing 28% of votes throughout his time in Congress, but that’s nothing compared to the following folks:
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