It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t like the film, “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.“ Besides the fact that Americans seem to love an underdog…we also seem to agree that our elected officials should do the following:

1 – Tell us the truth.

2 – Listen to what we do/don’t want.

3 – Realize what we do/don’t need.

4 – Fight for us.

When presented with exactly that kind of legislator, on the silver screen, we cheer…our eyes tear up…and part of us says, “That’s what we want.”

Then…we give up on it.

We have grown all too accustomed to our elected officials taking money, playing politics, lying to us, and otherwise distorting the truth for either partisan interests or special interests. We abandon our idealistic hopes for honest, principled leaders…and try our best to judge simply “the lesser of evils.“ We barely flinch at a new headline about a senator (who preached “character” and “morality”) propositioning men in an airport bathroom…we calmly listen as we are told that the senator holding the fate of health care reform in his hands, has received millions from the health care industry. Do we clamor for their removal? Do we vote them out of office? No…in fact, we are more likely to re-elect them again, and again, and again.

That’s why, it should be refreshing to all to see a freshman congressman stand on the floor of the House, and say this:

If you’re like me, you watched this whole clip, including the interview…and then you went back and watched the speech again.

His name is Alan Grayson, freshman representative from the state of Florida. And yes, he’s wearing a bad suit…and yes, he’s obviously got a quirky sense of humor…and yes, he’s a Democrat. And none of that should matter…because he’s reminding us what truly DOES matter. If we’ve forgotten…and have been lulled into thinking it’s about who looks prettier…or who gives folksier sounding soundbytes for the camera…or who can instill the most fear in us…then THIS shall serve as our wake up call. This is the kind of representative we should expect in BOTH parties, Republican AND Democrat. This is the kind of representative we should be electing in ALL fifty states. This…is the kind of voice that appears to be completely absent from the top leadership of both parties in Congress. Most of us would trade away Reid, Pelosi, Boehner, and McConnell…for just ONE Alan Grayson.

Apparently…many agree. Grayson’s first speech to catch national attention, can be seen here…and afterwards his website was flooded with visits, AND donations. People who don’t even live in Florida are now closely following, and supporting, Grayson’s bid for re-election. People who don’t even know the names of their OWN senators and representatives, know HIS name.

Why? Because what he said in the speech…is true: when appealing to the better angels of our nature, we really don’t care about policies, or procedures, or personalities, or even our representatives’ itty bitty feelings. And as jaded as we have become, all it takes is one elected official behaving as we would hope they all would…and we start cheering for the underdog again.

Thank you, Alan Grayson. Thank you, for being honest, and cutting through all the semantics, and procedural nonsense, and political hackery…to remind us that health care is, in fact, a simple issue. Thank you for reminding us that people are dying, and the health insurance is failing us, and that some politicians…don’t care.

Because, while it certainly stings to realize how little some of our representatives care…it is always inspiring to find one who REALLY does.

If you, like so many others, wish to support Grayson…perhaps to send the message to other politicians that this kind of honesty, real representation, and passion IS what we want…here’s Grayson’s website.