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Acknowledgments M any people contributed to this project, and I am happy to have the opportunity to acknowledge them. Thank you to Larry Dodd, Ken Wald, Jim Button, Peggy Conway, Marty Swilley, and Debbie Wallen, all of whom are at the University of Florida. Larry and Ken, in particular, continue to be my professional sounding boards, and I am grateful for their mentoring. I also am grateful to my dear friends and colleagues Marian Currinder, Brian Geiger, Joshua Gordon, David Schecter, Peter VonDoepp, and Fiona Wright for their unfailing encouragement . Ted Jelen, Doug Koopman, and Ray Tatalovich all made helpful comments on this project, and I am most appreciative. Many thanks to John Green for generously providing me with invaluable data. Thanks also to my colleagues at the University of North Texas, especially Corey Ditslear and Michael Greig. I am indebted to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Dauer Chair (Larry Dodd) at Florida and the Research Office and the Political Science Department at the University of North Texas for funding parts of this research. Richard Brown at Georgetown University Press has been terrifically helpful. Brian Calfano, Jen King, and Geoff Dancy provided me with very good research assistance. Thank you to Jeff Biggs and the Congressional Fellowship Program, for providing me with the opportunity to see Congress from the inside; Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA) and former Rep. Joe Scarborough (R-FL), for allowing me to work in their offices; and Dan Muroff, xv xvi Acknowledgments Rep. Capuano’s former chief of staff, for answering my constant stream of questions. I also wish to thank the representatives and staff who allowed me to interview them for this project. They are busy people, and I appreciate their time. Thank you to my loved ones for their unconditional support: Carol, Katie, Mary, Bill, Kaoru, Joan, Emily, Erika, Allison, Maribeth, Anne, Erin, Christine, and Pam. They improve my quality of life every day. Finally, I wish to recognize the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who won a world championship as I was finishing this manuscript (coincidence ?). To be candid, the American League Championship Series and the World Series were distractions that constantly drew me away from my work. Even when I was at the office, precious hours were spent reliving the near-heartbreak turned triumph with my colleagues and fellow citizens of Red Sox Nation, David Mason and Phil Paolino. “Dirty Water” blared throughout the first floor of Wooten Hall on a daily basis. So, yes, the postseason was a distraction—but it was the sweetest distraction of all. ...

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