So...any chance of you coming out of retirement, Ed?
“Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests; which interests each must maintain, as an agent and advocate, against other agents and advocates; but parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole; where, not local purposes, not local prejudices, ought to guide, but the general good, resulting from the general reason of the whole. You choose a member indeed; but when you have chosen him, he is not member of Bristol, but he is a member of parliament. If the local constituent should have an interest, or should form an hasty opinion, evidently opposite to the real good of the rest of the community, the member for that place ought to be as far, as any other, from any endeavour to give it effect.”
—-Edmund Burke, British political theorist, philosopher and statesman, in his speech to the electors at Bristol, November 3, 1774
Why Burke’s principles are relevant today should be obvious. What is depressing is that I have to resort to quoting an 18th Century statesman to express them, because no current elected officials in the United States seems to be capable of either articulating such ideals or acting accordingly.
Thanks to Ethics Bob Stone for reminding me of one of Burke’s best speeches.
Ethics Alarms 
Precisely what I was searching for, appreciate it for posting . “Study men, not historians.” by Harry S Truman.
Bravo for reminding readers of Burke’s quote. As a representative democracy, senators and congressmen are NOT elected to simply follow the polls from their jurisdictions or follow the ideologues of their respective parties, but to use their own intelligence and sense of what is best for the country as a whole when issues are deliberated. Neither are they elected to (1) bring home as much pork as possible from the Federal government to their own jurisdictions; or (2) focus more on their own re-elections than doing what they (should) know is the right thing; or (3) use their status and power to engage in unethical, immoral, nefarious behavior and assume they will get away with it (as so many already have).
Readers and Jack should also reference Oliver Wendell Holmes’ on “The Bad Man” in his essay “The Path of the Law.”
It is always interesting that this was a selection, not an election. There was likely no other ‘candidate’ there with him. Parlimentary selections were exercises in unity by the community. Any divisions about who should serve would have been worked out long before and Burke’s selection would have been unanimous to show the unity of the community. It is therefore interesting that he seems to be stressing the unity of the country as well as the county (assuming this was a county seat).