Mike Crapo: I Bleed Red.
(When asked how Mike Crapo intended to vote, he replied, "Y'all Ready Know")
How Republican is Mike Crapo? (article from a local Idaho paper called the Lewiston Tribune) That is a lot like asking a bear, "How bear are you?" "100%," would be the reply for both. Senator Crapo has been a republican all of his life ever since he found out that his blood was the same color as his political ideology, there was no turning back. The party color runs through Crapo's viens, which in turn commands his voting preferences. He is so red that he appeared in a Red Hot Chili Peppers' music video (he is the stand in bassist)
DW-Nominate Scores:
The Dw-Nominate Scores are a collaborative study into the voting of each Senator through roll call voting that measures how they voted in relation to the other Senators in their party. As you could've probably guessed, Senator Crapo leans (best video yet) heavily to the left. In the last six Congresses, here is how Crapo voted (website that explains the DW-Nominate Scores as well as the scores themselves):
108th: .584 (other Idaho Senator Craig .506)
109th: .630 (other Idaho Senator Craig .490)
110th: .676 (other Idaho Senator Craig .475)
111th: .722 (new Idaho Senator Risch .803)
112th: .768 (Idaho Senator Risch .803)
113th: .814 (Idaho Senator Risch .803)
Besides Risch's impressive ability to keep the same voting precentages for 3 Congress' in a row, Crapo has moved more and more to the extreme right conservative, which is of no surprise if one were to look at the polarizing trend of Congress over the past few years. However, I think it speaks to Crapo's ability to adapt to the ever changing political landscape as well as understand his constituents. Senator Craig's moderate voting style may have worked for a little bit, but he was soon booted out by the Idaho faithful. The people of Idaho are redder than the baby red potatoes they produce. Crapo saw and understood this. He also made to begin to exert his influence and ideology the more senor he became within the Senate ranks. He has made the decisions that his constituents want him to make and become more and more right of center. I wouldn't be surprised if Crapo hits a .89 or even a .9 before his last session in Congress.
Party Unity Score:
Mike Crapo treats his party like his family and does what is in the best interest for them and himself. Normally, they are the same thing, but one thing is for certain, Crapo would never turn his back on his family. In the past five Congresses, Crapo score shows his support for his party with his roll call votes:
109th: 94.859% (Idaho Senator Craig 92.228%)
110th: 92.286% (Idaho Senator Craig 89.944%)
111th: 95.551% (Idaho Senator Risch 96.346%)
112th: 95.185% (Idaho Senator Risch 95.556%)
113th: 97.748% (Idaho Senator Risch 98.627%)
The fact that Crapo doesn't drop below a 92% in voting alongside his party is pretty incredible. Within the last few Congresses, he has stepped up his intensity in voting with the Republican party. Another important thing to note is that Crapo is very persistent in voting as he is in the higher ranks of Senators in make sure to cast his vote every opportunity he gets. This means that he votes more than most Senators and still his percentages are super high, which goes to show how conservative Crapo is. A characteristic that has allowed him to maintain his position in Idaho for as long as he has. The majority of Idaho constituents are heavily conservative in almost every aspect of the political landscape although they really only care about taxation and budget deficits. The Republican endorsement carries great weight with Crapo and his voting record as Idaho constituents assume he is making the right decision every time. He maintains his party's position on issues of great importance like taxation, but when it comes to supporting tedious bills, he sometimes loosens his voting behavior and goes more with his mind than letting the party think for him.
ADA and Interest Groups Score:
Senator Crapo is never afraid to help people out (especially when they help pay the bills). The problem is that everyone is crying out for help and most times it is for things that are against Crapo's ideology or unapproved by his constituents. The ADA, "a home for liberal activists", rates the "liberalness" of each Congressmen based on whether or not they voted yes or no on certain bills that were "scored" by the ADA. Mike Crapo received a 15%(the ADA yearly newsletter that issues its ratings of how well or poor every member of Congress voted). The score is rather interesting as it shows that Crapo actually supported a few of the actions preferred by his so called adversaries. Although these supported actions are rather tedious and obvious, they show Crapo's ability to think for himself and willingness to do what he believes is right rather than tow the party line. For instance, one of the actions was to close debate and vote on a motion to pass vote on a bill. At Inside Gov.com, Crapo is rated by various conservative groups as well as liberal groups on how well he voted in their favor. For conservative groups like National Right To Life Committee, Campaign For Working Families, and FreedomWorks, Crapo has scored very high and votes with them around 95% of the time. It is of no surprise that Crapo always votes to support financial security of the middle and working class as that makes up a large constituency of Idaho voters. Another big characteristic is the strict adherence to pro-life votes as it is a big part of the Mormon religion and the conservative nature of Idaho. When it comes to more liberal groups like the ACLU and the League of Conservation Voters, Crapo is less than 30% in supporting their votes, which is interesting for a lack of support for environmental groups as Idaho is very pro wildlife and conservation.
Senator Crapo is never afraid to help people out (especially when they help pay the bills). The problem is that everyone is crying out for help and most times it is for things that are against Crapo's ideology or unapproved by his constituents. The ADA, "a home for liberal activists", rates the "liberalness" of each Congressmen based on whether or not they voted yes or no on certain bills that were "scored" by the ADA. Mike Crapo received a 15%(the ADA yearly newsletter that issues its ratings of how well or poor every member of Congress voted). The score is rather interesting as it shows that Crapo actually supported a few of the actions preferred by his so called adversaries. Although these supported actions are rather tedious and obvious, they show Crapo's ability to think for himself and willingness to do what he believes is right rather than tow the party line. For instance, one of the actions was to close debate and vote on a motion to pass vote on a bill. At Inside Gov.com, Crapo is rated by various conservative groups as well as liberal groups on how well he voted in their favor. For conservative groups like National Right To Life Committee, Campaign For Working Families, and FreedomWorks, Crapo has scored very high and votes with them around 95% of the time. It is of no surprise that Crapo always votes to support financial security of the middle and working class as that makes up a large constituency of Idaho voters. Another big characteristic is the strict adherence to pro-life votes as it is a big part of the Mormon religion and the conservative nature of Idaho. When it comes to more liberal groups like the ACLU and the League of Conservation Voters, Crapo is less than 30% in supporting their votes, which is interesting for a lack of support for environmental groups as Idaho is very pro wildlife and conservation.
Crossing Party Lines On Any Issues:
As one would expect, Mike Crapo isn't very keen on the prospect of crossing party lines and doing the Democratic party any favors. From the website Inside Gov, Senator Crapo is not much of one to lean anymore left than he has to. From abortion to defense spending, Crapo rates conservative on the ideological scale every time. But sometimes he must go into the danger zone. Probably the most left leaning bill that Crapo supported a stimulus spending package to help bail out bankrupt. Since Crapo is highly against increased government spending, this is an interesting bill for Crapo to support. Overall, if one is to look at the ideological scores of Crapo, he doesn't cross the line he has drawn in the sand. The Liberal Interest Group that he supports the most would be the Human Society Legislative Group, which is kind of a no-brainer as who is going to go against helping homeless animals?
As this is the last blog, it must be made known that I have been in close contact both verbally and physically with Senator Crapo. As I am the only one he trusts and my blog has gained national attention, I am proud and pleased to reveal that Mike Crapo will run for President in the upcoming information in 2016! If his work with Idaho is any indication of how well this country and his constituents will do, then we are in for almost a decade of Crapo and possibly more as the Constitution may have to adapt to the popularity for more Crapo. He is the best around.
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