E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSChange can come to the U.S. Senate. But it might take 10 or 15 years.
It turns out that the aughts, or the first decade of the 21st Century, saw the highest turnover of Senators in a generation and the sixth-highest since the direct election of senators began in 1914.
From 2000 to 2010, there have been 71 new senators. That's the most since 1970 to 1980, when there were 91 new senators.
As we wrote in First Thoughts, there will be 16 new senators this Congress, the largest freshman class in the Senate since 1980, when there were 18 new members.
The highest turnover in any decade was from 1920 to 1930, when there were 100 new senators.
TOP DECADES OF SENATE TURNOVER
1. 1920-30: 100
2. 1940-50: 98
3. 1930-40: 94
4. 1970-80: 91
5. 1950-60: 81
6. 2000-10: 71
SOURCE: Congressional Directory via U.S. Senate official Web site.
Leave a Comment:
Unless the Gop/ Tea bagger party and conservative Democrats change their arcane political views and their slavish behavior to the powerfully rich these knuckleheads will also go down in 21st century history as fewer.
So what does this tell us about all the "career politicians" noise? That it is crap! If there are 71 new senators since 2000, there are only 29 in the body since before 2000, right? Or is the article completely linguitically flawed and count a seat that turns over twice in the decade, say 2002 and 2008 as 3 different Senators?
It tells me that the only "constant" is "change". Yes, it can take a while, but change ultimately wins the day. There will be more changes with each election. The question is, "Is the change helping America grow stronger, or are we going to be gridlocked by partisanship?
First Read Hosts, great job. This is what makes FR different and the best place for politics--you provide some history to go with current events.
It seems Voters do periodically "throw out the bums"; sometimes though, they throw the wrong ones out and experience some buyer's remorse.
Change. What in D.C. has changed other than door and desk name plates? Nothing. The same wealthy entities that controlled the Government before the election control it now. The peoples vote no longer can change anything, what's best for the country and it's people will be ignored by this Congress as usual, and the Corporate lobbyists will continue to dictate law to our esteemed Congressmen designed to sap what wealth is left in our country away. Rest assured that when you hear the term "change" used in reference to D.C. they are referring to the coins in their pocket, nothing more. To effect change in D.C. a tool other than the voting booth will have to be employed.
So FR... what you are saying is that in the last 10 decades the 2000-2010 decade was in the BOTTOM-HALF of the list for the most turnover.
Kind of right in the middle of the pack at position 6 of 10 wouldn't you say?
So what is the point?
More relevant today than when it was written:
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/110297/reagan-insider-gop-destroyed-us-economy