Asked how people should judge the effectiveness of a member of Congress, 1^st District Rep. Raul Labrador said during tonight’s KTVB debate, “I think the most effective way that we can judge a member of Congress is whether he or she has kept the promises that they have made. I made certain promises to the people of my district when I was running for Congress.” He said those includes reducing federal spending. “The debt today is less than it was, or it’s grown at a lower rate than it was when I went to Washington, D.C.,” Labrador said. “The deficit is half of what it was. … The unemployment rate is lower. … So sometimes we judge people by the bills that they pass, but the reality as a legislator, some of the most important work that you do is the bills that you stop.”

State Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, Labrador’s Democratic challenger, said, “I think that the effectiveness of a congressperson depends on two or three main things. One would be how well we define the needs of the nation and Idahoans, how well we engage with our constituents, if a constituent comes back to visit with us I think that we should make ourselves available as much as possible and be able to interact with them and hear their concerns. We need to be able to work with everybody there, and we don’t accomplish that when we’re always accusing the other side of doing things that are not productive.”