Voters took a scythe to the Members of Congress who switched their votes to pass the financial services bailout legislation in October and those whose votes in 2000 set the stage for the financial crisis.

Except . . . it was a very dull scythe. Maybe one without a blade.

Of the 59 people featured in our Bailout Rogues Gallery – Members of Congress who switched their votes between Monday and Friday of the same week to pass the bailout legislation – 57 ran for reelection and 55 won. That’s a retention rate of about 96.5% – pretty much exactly in line with historical retention rates. So you people must not have been very mad about that.

As to the Members of Congress and Senators who voted to do away with state regulation on financial derivatives, the story is about the same in the Senate. Eighteen of 20 running were reelected, a 90% retention rate.

But it’s a little different in the House. One hundred forty-three in this bunch ran for reelection and 135 of them won. This is a retention rate of 94.4% – at the low end of recent historical averages. If you count the three Members of Congress who ran for Senate and lost, the rate drops to 92.5%.

All of these numbers are probably statistically insignificant, so there’s nothing to see here. What this illustrates is how insulated Members of Congress and Senators are, even in elections. You vote based on lots of things, and one or two particular votes – even coming near election time – are unlikely to dislodge all the other reasons we choose one candidate over another.

That’s why – broken record – it’s important to monitor events between elections. Watch the bills that come to the House and Senate floors and let your representatives know what you think.