Cite as: 517 U. S. 186 (1996)
Thomas, J., dissenting
effect simply because their personal favorite for the Republican nomination was not on the ballot as the Party candidate.
Justice Stevens also reasons that party primaries and conventions are functionally indistinguishable. See ante, at 205-207, 214-215. Similarly, Justice Breyer maintains that the convention in this case "resembles a primary about as closely as one could imagine." Ante, at 238. These assertions may or may not be true as a matter of practical judgment (or imagination). One crucial difference between primaries and conventions is that in the context of the former, the party often avails itself of a system erected, funded, and managed by the State, whereas in the latter, it generally does not. Consequently, charging the State with responsibility for voting changes that occur in a primary, where there may be actual state involvement, makes more sense than holding the State accountable for changes implemented at a party convention. Though Justice Breyer lists several reasons why the Party's convention was like a primary, see ibid., he fails to mention the critical factor of state involvement.
In any event, the question whether conventions ought to be governed by the Act is, at bottom, a matter of policy. And, as far as I can discern from the face of § 14, Congress made no policy determination in favor of regulating conventions under the Act. Though one might think it more sensible to include conventions in § 14, "[t]he short answer is that Congress did not write the statute that way." United States v. Naftalin, 441 U. S. 768, 773 (1979). When we examine the legislative lines that Congress has drawn, we generally do not hold Congress to exceedingly rigorous standards of logic. See, e. g., FCC v. Beach Communications, Inc., 508 U. S. 307, 314 (1993) (reviewing statute for rational basis under Equal Protection Clause and noting that " 'judicial intervention is generally unwarranted no matter how unwisely we may think a political branch has acted' ") (quoting Vance v. Bradley, 440 U. S. 93, 97 (1979)); International Primate Protec-
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