Which factors do you believe should be most important to a member of Congress in making decisions?

There
are really only two factors that are important to a member of Congress when they make decisions.
You can phrase them differently depending on your point of view, but the political science
literature can be reduced to these. First, what is good for my chances of getting reelected?
Second, what is good for my constituents? The first factor is about the member. The second
factor is about the good of the country, "doing the right thing," or adhering to some
moral or ideological imperative.

There's an old saying in politics that the
first job of any elected official is to get elected, and the second job is to get reelected. If
a member of Congress makes too many decisions their constituents don't like, or if they break
the rules or the law, their chances of getting reelected go way down. So they've always got an
eye on the odds of winning their next election, whatever else they do. That's different than
doing what their constituents want or what the member thinks is good for them....