One thing that's lost in much of the postpartisanbipartisancantweallgetalongisan rhetoric - and media portrayal of the Village generally - is that there are tremendous stakes in national elections. There are trillions of dollars in goodies to be handed out, and much power - economic and otherwise - involved. People do a lot for money and power, and while our national patronage machine isn't quite as easily understood as your typical city's is, it's still a giant patronage machine.
