the Alito Senate Vote weighted for population

The final Senate vote confirming Associate Justice Samuel Alito today for a lifetime appointment to the US Supreme Court was 58-42. (54 Republicans and 4 Democrats made up the "YES" votes. 40 Democrats, 1 Republican and 1 Independent made up the "NO" votes.)

If we weight each Senator's vote with half the population of his or her home state the following totals represent the Alito Senate Vote weighted for population:

The 58 Senators voting YES on Alito = 146,713,748 citizens
The 42 Senators voting NO on Alito = 146,397,932 citizens

Now, each Senator, according to our Constitution has an equal vote. Senators represent their states, and each state, regardless of population, has two Senators. I print this weighted analysis simply to make a political point:

Do not let anyone tell you our nation is not closely divided about our Supreme Court and Samuel Alito. Do not let anyone tell you that the support for Samuel Alito was a "slam dunk." Every Senator must go home and justify this vote to the citizens he or she represents. The 16 vote difference in the Senate does NOT equal a commensurate difference in the population of the states those same Senators represent. In a word, Samuel Alito's votes in the Senate came from Senators representing less populous States.

Either party neglects that reality at their own peril.

(Population Statistics 2004, US Dept. of Commerce and the Census Bureau)

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Comments

&y said…
Great post, Kid. I can't believe it worked out that close.

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