While that’s true in most cases, federal contracts can make a pretty big difference in some industries, particularly those connected with infrastructure or defense. (All those highway projects with signs saying “Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” form a recent and salient example.) This is a semi-adversarial process, since allocation of contracts is zero-sum and Congresscritters have incentives to funnel them to their own states or districts; “should” isn’t the only concern and may not even be a primary one.
On the other hand, these incentives are tied more to regions than to parties, so choice of candidate isn’t likely to make a big difference in how they’re executed.
While that’s true in most cases, federal contracts can make a pretty big difference in some industries, particularly those connected with infrastructure or defense. (All those highway projects with signs saying “Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” form a recent and salient example.) This is a semi-adversarial process, since allocation of contracts is zero-sum and Congresscritters have incentives to funnel them to their own states or districts; “should” isn’t the only concern and may not even be a primary one.
On the other hand, these incentives are tied more to regions than to parties, so choice of candidate isn’t likely to make a big difference in how they’re executed.