It’s not so simple. In fact, it works the other way around. The party doesn’t tell me what to think. I (and millions of others) tell the party what we want. We want universal health coverage. A lot of people are opposed to that, so we have to compromise to get it through, and in the end it is a leaky ship, bound to go down. But that’s the nature of legislating.
There is nothing like proof in politics and legislation. Either you think it is working or you think it isn’t. People look at the same facts and draw different conclusions. Proof is not a standard that makes sense in politics. Occasionally someone will say black is white, and even they will have supporters.
It’s about rhetoric and people and masses of people. It’s about what people believe, not what the facts are. It’s about advertising and voting, not careful analysis of the situation. There are not facts in politics. Everything is up for grabs. The situation is terribly fluid.
Therefore many people are unwilling to change their minds. Their ideology tells them the facts, not the real world situation. But there are plenty of people who are willing to try to analyze things dispassionately and arrive at the best solution to the problem they can enact.
They say legislation is like sausage. You really don’t want to know what’s in it nor how it’s made. Legislation is usually a mess because we have to meld together so many different interests. Don’t be fooled by the two party system. In reality, many, many more interests than two are represented.
Yes. I change my mind when I get new information.