A few years ago I wrote to Representative Rick Larsen (District 2, Democrat) about something that concerned me with the TSA. Although I am a Republican and he a Democrat, I felt that he was still my representative, was deserving of respect, and that I in turn deserved to be heard. After filing my letter on his website, I received notification that he or a staffer would get back to me. Instead, all I got was his newsletter – to which I had apparently become subscribed.
When I met with Dan Matthews, his Republican challenger, I was struck by a significant difference in attitude
Among the first things he said to me was that he was running to be the congressional representative for the whole district, not just republicans. His appearance is clean cut and he is obviously the kind of man you would trust. He flew planes for a living and served for two decades in the armed forces. That’s the kind of job where if you make a bad choice people actually die, and there is no place to hide or political equivocation that can conceal bad behavior.
Again, contrast this with Rick Larsen. In 2011 he was forced to fire three of his staffers for drinking on the job and referring to Larsen as “my idiot boss.” They were caught because they were dumb enough to tweet about it.