When the main attention-getter for top-of-the-ticket races is a singer who was at her prime in the 1970s, and she’s not running for anything, you know your party’s in trouble. That’s the situation Idaho Democrats find themselves in this year in congressional races.

Singer Carole King, who has touted presidential candidate John Kerry, has outshined the Republican-turned-Democrat write-in candidate opposing U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo and the little-known Democrat who at one point dropped out of the race against U.S. Rep. Butch Otter.

Wherever she has stopped to urge fellow Idahoans to vote, King has attracted small crowds of Democrats and fans of her music. That’s more than can be said for Jerome businessman Scott McClure and Eagle businesswoman Naomi Preston. McClure, who describes himself as a moderate Republican, said he changed parties to run against Crapo because he wanted to give Idahoans a ballot choice. Preston has gained more headlines for controversy than policy statements, dropping out of her race to tend an injured mother, then re-entering the race despite reservations by some Democrats. Recently, she joined a lawsuit against a Nampa events center because she couldn’t campaign freely there.

On the basis of political clout, quality of service and understanding of the issues, The Spokesman-Review has an easy choice to make in these two races. Incumbents Crapo and Otter are our overwhelming choices over their token opposition.

Crapo, who has solid conservative credentials on most issues, including economic matters, may be the most popular member of the Idaho delegation. One of his great strengths is forming consensus on divisive issues, such as wilderness designation and elk herd stabilization. Now, he’s trying to find consensus among county commissioners, ranchers and environmentalists for a 500,000-acre Owyhee wilderness area in southwestern Idaho.

As the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Water, which oversees such environmental issues as the Endangered Species Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, salmon recovery and national wildlife refuges, Crapo is in a solid position to protect issues of importance to Idaho and the West. The Harvard-educated attorney is also in position to move into Senate Republican leadership after his re-election.

The Spokesman-Review didn’t back outspoken Otter in his two successful runs for Congress. We were worried about his history of defying environmental protocol in rearranging wetlands on his southern Idaho ranch and his reputation as a loose cannon and occasional partier. Otter will forever be known for a comment he made as a legislator in the early 1970s when he voted not only no, but “hell no” on a bill to set standards for pornography because he believed local communities should set those rules.

Largely, he has allayed most of our concerns during two productive terms. His finest moment came in the wake of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 when he was the only representative to speak against the excesses of the Patriot Act and one of only three Republicans in the House to vote against it. Since then, he has won many members of Congress over with his principled stand and now is part of an effort by the Idaho delegation to reform the Patriot Act.

With or without credible opposition, Crapo and Otter deserve to continue serving their constituents.