Louise McClure, widow of the late Idaho Sen. Jim McClure, has penned an op-ed piece about the recent government shutdown and “flirtation with default on our debts.” In it, she  bemoans the breakdown in civility and constructive problem-solving in the House and Senate from the days when McClure served, from 1967 to 1991, and lauds 2^nd District Congressman Mike Simpson – the only member of Idaho’s all-GOP four-member congressional delegation who voted for the deal to end the shutdown and avoid default.

“It’s rare in Washington today to find someone willing to consider another’s point of view,” Mrs. McClure writes. “As Jim used to say, compromise is not a dirty word. Our leaders must have the courage to cast a tough vote when the nation’s greater good demands it. Thankfully for Idaho, Mike Simpson has demonstrated the courage to do that.”

She writes, “We have huge problems as a nation and partisan bickering and one-upmanship can’t solve them. We desperately need leaders who will do the hard thing when it is the right thing. Sinking the ship of state for the sake of principle is still sinking the ship of state, after all.”

Of Simpson’s stand, she writes, “Jim would be proud.” You can read her full opinion piece here. Jim McClure, a Republican who chaired the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and made his name as a western conservative, died in 2011.