Government backbencher or opposition member, the gig is pretty sweet. No heavy lifting and you are in out of the weather. And these days you don’t have to show up very often. You aren’t expected to know much of anything about anything. There’s plenty of patronage to hand out if you are a government member and that’s what helps to put the votes in the box these days. Wangersky notes the speeches about money for the district. Patronage is why.