> you tend to vote the same as the group. People talk about the free exchange of ideas, but it is in the context of them changing your mind and not the other wa

> you tend to vote the same as the group. People talk about the free exchange of ideas, but it is in the context of them changing your mind and not the other way around. Thank the removal of earmarks and Citizens United for that. Legislators are dependent on those sweet PAC dollars (or more critically, dependent on someone else not getting them) in order to get re-elected and without an earmark to bring home to your district to please your voters with you can't risk losing goodwill with the party elites who control the purse strings by breaking from the party.