I hear this word being used constantly by politicians. Since we only have two major political parties, Republican and Democrat, I have to wonder exactly what it means when they use this word.
The first place I looked for an answer was in the dictionary. Where else could I have gone? Is it spelled with a dash ("bi-") before "partisan" or is it two words or one word? I never resolved that, so I will use “bipartisan” without a dash. My Rotary Club gave third graders a lexicon called “The Best Dictionary for Students” and it wasn't even in that.
The Easter holiday for Congress in DC is now over and the senators and congressmen are returning to their offices. They are telling all their community they have “bipartisan” support and now they will be able to get their bills passed. What do they mean by the term "bipartisan"?
Congressmen and senators are nominated by a political party (R or D), and then after the vote, are elected to work in DC for all the citizens. We have two senators for each state and one congressman for every district (about 550 in the U.S.). However, I see them lining up and getting ready to battle for what they feel their constituents want, but NOT for all the electorate.
This is my question: Do they represent every citizen or only those who voted for them? I bring this up because this weekend I saw a number of politicians being interviewed on TV, and they all used the term BIPARTISAN.
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