Ohio Republican Congressman Steven LaTourette (AP file photo)
WASHINGTON - A Republican congressman who's retiring in frustration over political gridlock says he hopes the institution doesn't have to hit "rock bottom" before people learn to work together.
Ohio's Steven LaTourette tells MSNBC it's more difficult for a reasonable person to get re-elected to Congress because "the red districts are turning redder and the blue districts are turning bluer."
The red-versus-blue theory came to prominence when political analysts began breaking down the electoral map in terms of blue states as Democratic-leaning and red states as Republican. LaTourette says Friday that voters haven't demanded enough. He says when Congress failed to make a deal on budget cuts, quote, "I didn't get one phone call. I didn't get one email."
He says people should have been saying, `What's wrong with these chuckleheads.' "
