What is the nature of the struggle between Jeff Smith and Jim Taylor

Smith has a simple and straightforward love for country seems like a handicap at first, it eventually becomes the artillery that he wields against the corrupt ways of his superiors, Paine and Taylor. Smith's disappointment in the cynicism of Washington becomes the thing that drives him to fight back against injustice and stand up for what he believes in. Smith might seem like a hapless nobody, but his deep love for America, his resilience, and his sense that he can make a better world strengthen him and allow him to change policy for the better in Washington.

Jim Taylor is the political "boss" of Paine and the other politicians in Jefferson Smith's home state. While he spins it to look like he is working for the common good, he is nothing more than a common crook, working only for his own profit and power. He is an unsavory villain, who bulldozes people into doing what he says with no thought of how it affects the moral fiber of his community.