The District
The Incumbent
The Challenger
The Analysts
How to Teach this Case

The District
Congressman Dodge's district has changed in subtle ways since he was first elected. The district is suburban and for years has had a slim Democratic majority. That has begun to change in recent years. New communities have grown up in the district and have attracted a group of voters more in tune with the Religious Right; they favor abortion restrictions, school prayer, and large tax cuts. Furthermore, the union base in the district has dried up somewhat, as union jobs have moved away. Many of the remaining union households actually sympathize quite a bit with the Republican Party, especially on non-economic issues.

The Incumbent - Max Dodge (Democrat)
Congressman Max Dodge (a Democrat) has represented his suburban district for almost twenty years. During the last fourteen of those years, Dodge has served on the Appropriations Committee. He has never been regarded as a "heavy hitter" in Washington; no major legislation bears his name, and nobody would ever rank him as one of the best or most effective members of Congress. In fact, for someone who has been on the Hill for twenty years, he toils in relative anonymity. He chairs a subcommittee on Appropriations, which for most is a source of considerable prestige and power. But for Representative Dodge, even this position has not made him prominent on Capitol Hill.

What Congressman Dodge excels at is constituency service. On the Appropriations Committee, he has brought in much funding for the defense plant located in the adjacent district (a plant that employs many of his constituents). He has brought in funding to do road construction in the district, build new post offices and federal buildings, and has protected various industries in the district from potential harm. Earlier in his career, when Congress passed the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Dodge got critical tax breaks for local companies that employ many of his constituents; even his opponents would concede that his work here helped keep these companies in strong economic shape.

While not particularly ideological, Dodge votes with the majority of his party on most issues. Thus, his voting record tends to be pro-choice, pro-environment, and in favor of more government spending over greater tax cuts. He argued against the size of the proposed $1.6 trillion Bush tax cut plan, suggesting that it be scaled down. With a growing senior citizen base in the district, Dodge argues against Bush's Social Security reform plan. He also is a strong supporter of public schools, opposing all voucher plans.

Dodge is sixty-four years old. Before entering Congress, he was an insurance agent who was active in local politics. He was a member of the state Democratic Party steering committee from 1976-1979. When the local incumbent retired in 1982, Dodge ran for the seat and won fairly easily. He continues to make the 1200-mile round-trip to return home every weekend that Congress is in session. A local saying is that you can't get into a high school football game in the district without shaking Max Dodge's hand.

For the first fourteen years he was in Congress, Dodge had a fairly easy time being reelected. Six years ago, he faced a spirited opponent who dubbed him "Mr. Mediocre," pointing out that Dodge really had an undistinguished legislative record. Dodge won, but with less than 60% of the vote. His next two opponents continued on this theme, with one even resurrecting the "Mr. Mediocre" nickname. Each held Dodge to the high-50s in vote percentage. Both, however, ran poorly funded campaigns, and one had some minor scandals to overcome. Dodge has not had any long, sleepless election nights, but his winning margins have been below what one would expect for someone with his seniority.

The Challenger - Charles Green (Republican)
This year, the Republicans have decided to go all out to try to defeat Dodge. They have recruited as a challenger Charles Green, a two-term state senator who currently is the highest-ranking Republican in the State Senate. Green has a conservative voting record, and has also brought many benefits back to those segments of the congressional district that overlaps with his state senate district. He is a strong supporter of the military. Unlike Dodge, however, Green has a distinguished legislative record in the state senate, having been the chief sponsor of state tax cut bills and of the recent Education Bill, which provided money for an experimental vouchers program.

The Analysts
Political analyst Sam Balish describes the race as follows: Given the formidable advantages of incumbency, Dodge is still considered the favorite. But he's a lightweight legislatively; Green has more of a record to run on than Dodge does. If Tip O'Neill is right and 'all politics is local,' Dodge can win. If issues start to matter, Green might actually be closer to the prevailing sentiment of the district than Dodge is. Leans Democratic.

Democratic Party consultant Barry Simon has offered the following advice to Dodge campaign: Keep it local. Your man has no great legislative record to point to, so this race has to constantly hit the things Dodge has done for the district. Among the pork Dodge has brought home to the district are military benefits, which is how he ought to appeal to the conservative voters in the district. There is a core group of Democrats in the district for whom Dodge can wave the liberal flag. But if he's going to win, he's got to reach the conservatives on the military and other voters on what he has done for the district. We can win this one, but Max Dodge is in the fight of his life.

Republican Party consultant Adam Newman offers this advice to the Green campaign: What the heck has Max Dodge done in twenty years of congressional service? It's wonderful that he's brought stuff to the district, but Charles Green has done that just as well while in the state legislature. What separates the two of them is that Charles Green also has some substance to him.

How to Teach this Case
This case is a basic study of whether congressional elections are local or national events. If they are local events, Dodge wins. His name recognition is greater, more constituents have met him, and he has done more service for the constituency. If they are national events, Green could win. He seems more in tune with where the voters in the district are. Green also could more plausibly make a case that he could provide more "bang for the buck" policy-wise, giving people the chance to have their representative make a positive difference for the entire nation while in Washington. However, Green's margin for error is slim; the district seems only narrowly to favor Republicans on the issues.

Thus, who wins the election depends on what battleground the candidates fight on. Political scientists use the term 'framing' to refer to how candidates try to focus voters' attention. Dodge wants to "frame" this election around "Who can do more for you and your needs?" while Green wants to frame this election around "Who can better go to Washington and do what you would want them to do?" This case nicely highlights the dual nature of Congress and congressional elections - members of Congress represent their district in different ways, and the person who might be best along one dimension may not be the best along others. If I were to use this case, this would be the "big picture" lesson I would use.

See also "How to Teach with Case Studies"