Oh boy, then what's the point of having representatives at all? Just put every line in the budget to a vote. Personally, I want someone smart and rational who can put in the work to understand what's going on, listen to subject matter experts, and make tough calls based on what's right for the country. I don't want an "empty vessel", but I'm also not super concerned with someone's political website perfectly matching up with everything I happen to believe at the moment.
> Personally, I want someone smart and rational who can put in the work to understand what's going on, listen to subject matter experts, and make tough calls based on what's right for the country.
Oh, I didn't mean to imply that we should have a robot! Yes, leaders need to listen to experts and advisors and make thoughtful decisions. But they should also stay in tune with the electorate.
Perhaps a politician is naturally inclined towards removing regulations so that it's easier to grow a business. That's a reasonable baseline position—but if there's suddenly an up-swell of support for strong environmental regulations to combat global warming, it's completely reasonable to change your position in response to the will of the country.
