If you happened to be a fly on the wall of the state senate in either California or New Mexico, you would at first glance observe roughly the same thing. You would see senators sitting at stately desks under ornate ceilings and on top of a ruby carpet in Sacramento or a blue carpet in Santa Fe. Their desks would be arranged by party, with Republicans seated on the presiding officer's right-hand side in California but to the left in New Mexico. No electronic voting apparatus clutters either floor, since both houses are small enough to cling to the tradition of roll call voting. About four of every five legislators would be wearing suits and ties, with the others in dresses or suits and scarves. The senators would typically be in their forties or fifties and educated at one of the state's public universities. It would soon become clear that all members of each body were quite smart, driven, or, in most cases, both.

Debates on the two floors would probably address the same sorts of policy challenges. Lawmakers in both states struggle over how to combat poverty and provide health care while keeping taxes low, how to strike a balance between protecting natural resources and spurring economic growth, and how to prevent crime while preserving individual rights. If anyone was delivering a speech on one of these weighty issues, though, it is unlikely that the other senators would be paying attention.