We had an opportunity to interview Senator Mike Crapo this week to find out the reason why he withdrew his support for Donald Trump and then reversed himself and said he would vote for Mr. Trump. Mike has been a supporter of conservative values for as long as we have known him and was even there for us when we were battling with the governor and the legislature on bill 1067 dealing with child support payments from Americans who were in foreign countries.
The reason the Senator gave us for pulling his support has to do with his efforts to support victims of sexual and domestic violence as evidenced by this video on his website. After seeing the video tape of Mr. Trump and the nature of its content he felt compelled to recuse himself from supporting the candidate in his presidential bid from a moral standpoint the same as many other republicans who pulled support. He said after having some time to reflect on his decision he realized that even though Trump had this sore spot in his past there was too much at stake in this election. We don’t believe that Senator Crapo is an elitist by any means and when you look at the Senator’s campaign website, it is easy to see that he and Trump have many of the same views and values on the issues our country is facing.
We’re willing to give him a pass on this misguided decision because of the circumstances, but alerted him to the fact that we are probably more forgiving than the voting public. We believe it is better for a man to admit his mistakes rather than being stubborn and live with them. I have always believed in the saying, “It’s better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.” It’s a way of life. It’s not about abusing situations, but about knowing when to push the boundaries. It’s about knowing that the overwhelming number of people in life are naysayers and “no sayers” and sometimes you gotta just roll the dice and say what the heck.
Our Washington legislators don’t always vote the way we want or do the things we ask, but that’s the case of any politician. The more important thing is that he represents the people from his constituency and they are the ones he must eventually answer to at the next election. Senator Crapo has served the people of Idaho since 1984 first in the Idaho Senate then for three terms in Washington representing Idaho’s 2nd congressional district and as one of Idaho’s senators since 1998. Evidently his constituents have been satisfied with his performance so far as he was reelected in 2010 with 71% of the vote. This was Senator Crapo’s statement to his constituents when he said he would vote for Trump.
“The choice we have is between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Given that choice, I will vote for the Republican ticket, Trump and Pence. We must elect a President who will appoint strong Supreme Court justices who will interpret the Constitution as it was written, and who will help lead us to a stronger free market economy and a more limited Constitutional government.”
Although we told him we would have preferred he endorse Trump rather than say he would vote for him, it is understandable that might have been a bit too much for his moral compass to deal with. In any case his constituents will have an opportunity on Nov. 8th to show the Senator how they feel. As for me and my editor we will cast our votes for the Senator because of his previous support not only for this newsletter and for his help and support on some important conservative legislation both here in Idaho and in Washington.
