As the Congress came to a close, the lawmakers returned to their districts ready to claim credit for their accomplishments and to advertise the positions they had taken over the past two years. They would account for their actions and ask for voters’ support once again. Some would return home excited by the successes they had achieved through their sponsored legislation. Others would draw attention to broader issues and to their role in voting for or opposing the proposals of their colleagues.

While each had carried their constituents’ concerns to Capitol Hill a mere twenty months prior, Representatives Pomeroy (D-ND), Oberstar (D-MN), Kildee (D-MI), and McNulty (D-NY) returned from Congress in 2008 with marked differences in their proven effectiveness as lawmakers. Pomeroy and Oberstar had introduced the most legislation, with thirty-six and thirty-nine bills, respectively. Yet their portfolios met vastly different fates. Oberstar saw ten of his bills signed into law, while all but one of Pomeroy’s bills died in committee and none advanced to President Bush’s desk for his signature. Kildee and McNulty had more limited portfolios, introducing eleven and five bills, respectively; and they, too, had starkly different fortunes. By the end of the 110th Congress , more than half of the bills that Kildee introduced had been signed into law, whereas none of McNulty’s five bills had made it to the White House.