Now that the election is over, and a Republican represents the 8th, I can speak up again. The bad news is the Republican is Jason Smith. It could be worse, but it could be much better. Smith represents Smith. If that's good for the 8th, then that's good enough. Smith is like a loudspeaker spewing out his views and it is futile to talk to a loudspeaker. We know Joe Biden sucks but that's pretty much what the loudspeaker spews. Constituents are too simple to understand complexity. Has Smith ever asked you what you think or asked you for money for that matter?

We never get to know things like where Smith stands on the battle for Speaker, he never answers questions. You can play telephone with his office but Smith himself is too important to walk among the deplorables in an uncontrolled setting. Absent his public statements I surmise he is in favor of McCarthy and the uniparty over true conservatism and the Freedom Caucus. We'll probably not know until the dirty deeds are done.