You may wonder if the parties in the House and Senate use general debate as a forum for one-upping each other. Judge Robert Satter says debate dividing along party lines was a more frequent occurrence in the past:

Before reapportionment, one of the surest ways of turning a promising debate into a dismal one was for the majority leader to rise and by vigorously supporting the bill, in effect declare it a party issue. Then the minority party was goaded into a response, the debate devolved into partisan rhetoric, and reasoned arguments on the bill's substantive merits died out. Such party conflicts occur only occasionally today because parties are less dominating and individual legislators are more independent.




Satter, Robert. Under the Gold Dome: An Insider's Look at the Connecticut Legislature. New Haven: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 2004.