We’ve long liked the idea – tried in a number of times and a number of places – of “Capitol for a Day,” where top state leaders, usually including the governor, descend on some distant community. It lets the local people meet their state leaders and say their piece to them. And it exposes state people to constituents who don’t wear suits and aren’t being paid to get something. It’s nice symbolism on top of that.

Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter’s revival of the idea stands as sound, a point that ought to be re-emphasized in the wake of this in the Spokane Spokesman-Review: “Shoshone County wasn’t too captivated by Gov. Butch Otter’s visit Tuesday, with only a mother and her home-schooled son showing up for the ‘Capitol for a Day’ session. But that didn’t mean Kingston resident Dawn Hauff and her 10-year-old son Dan were alone with the governor in the Wallace Senior Drop-in Center. About 40 people crammed into the room, but they didn’t exactly count as ‘average citizens.’ All were elected or held some type of government job.”

Note to the governor: The fact that you didn’t have an automatic flash mob at Wallace doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. The fact that the results weren’t entirely under control may mean you were doing something right.