Why Idaho’s Mike Simpson Doesn’t Like Ohio’s Jim Jordan

Look, I’m not in the mind of Mike Simpson, but I wouldn’t call him a conservative.  Several people wrote me this week to tell me the Representative wasn’t supporting Jim Jordan for Speaker of the House.  He’s not alone.  Jordan’s take-no-prisoners approach has turned off some of his fellow Republicans.  Still, the constituency looks at Congress as a whole and fumes it’s not as conservative as the GOP base, however.  Conservative talk show host Erick Erickson explains that beyond party labels, most members of the House are more attuned to day-to-day constituent issues.

In other words, it’s not about the political divide.  Representatives spend more time ironing out issues with Social Security, Medicare, and passports among their voters than they do stress over the opposition.

This is what builds loyalty among individual constituents.  Then they show up and vote.  With turnout low, especially in primaries, it’s often the deciding factor.

For all the bellyaching I hear about Mike Simpson, he keeps winning and by comfortable margins.  There are people who remember that their Representative helped them navigate the bureaucratic minefield 20 years ago.  They continue to reward the man.

You’re not going to defeat Mike Simpson on policy papers.  If he chooses to run for another term, he’ll be a difficult man to topple.  Instead of talking about budgets and debt, you would need to appeal to people on an emotional level.  You would need to be a candidate of empathy, and right now, he already holds that ground in the minds of many voters.

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