Nunes can learn a lot by meeting with voters

When I moved to the Valley almost four years ago, I was lucky enough to meet Rep. Devin Nunes. I say lucky because he doesn’t meet with constituents very often.

This surprised me because where I lived before, in northwest Indiana, my congressman was Pete Visclosky, who has spent 32 years in that position. You’d think he wouldn’t need to meet with people in his district after all that time, but he still does, scheduling dozens of town halls across his district during congressional breaks.

Sometimes he gets hammered at those appearances, like when the Tea Party came to prominence a few years ago. That can’t be fun. But he still holds town halls, year after year.

Nunes is a smart man, I’m sure. But I think he would learn a lot if he spent more time with those in his district. Insulating himself from opinions different from his own certainly won’t make him a better leader.

This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Nunes can learn a lot by meeting with voters."