Back in March, I went to the Kansas Democratic Party's Washington Days, and met the candidate for the 1st district, which Jerry Moran won with 79% of the vote. What I wrote at the time was:
The most encouraging person I met was John Doll, running against Jerry Moran in the First District. Doll's website is a little light on details or a sense of the man, so I wasn't sure what to expect. ...
What I found was a retired government studies teacher and basketball coach and a business owner who is personable, open, honest about his prospects, and proud to be a Democrat. He says his friends were surprised to learn that he was a Democrat, and he asked them "Do you think of me differently now?" Taking that message - that Democrats aren't hippies, aren't out to destroy anything, are normal people who want what's best - through western Kansas will be to the benefit of everyone around. He doesn't think his odds are great, and his goal is as much to make Mr. Moran talk about the important issues of western Kansas.
Asked about his chances of winning, he told me "Bucknell beat KU last year, so anything's possible." His major issues are local matters, agriculture, the Japanese beef embargo, ethanol plants to generate energy, and he's working hard to cover the 69 counties in the district (out of 105 counties in the state!), and to get the incumbent out there to take on the same issues. Twenty years as a teacher gives him a natural way with people, and I wish him well.
Diane highlights Chris Moon's bizarre article about Moran's re-election. It is not news that an incumbent beats an unknown challenger. A Republican winning in a district with a Partisan Voting Index of 20 (signifying that the district was 20 points more Republican than the average district in presidential elections), is hardly news. In 2002 and 2004, no Democrat ran, and Moran was re-elected with 91% of the vote. I'd say a slip from 91% to 79% is quite an avalanche.
John Doll wasn't running to win, he was running because no one deserves to go unchallenged. He didn't raise a lot of money, but he made sure that a Democratic voice was heard.
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Josh, I'm curious - why do you describe the Moon article as bizarre?
Jerry Moran was described accurately in that article, from what I can tell. He's very responsive to his constituents, even to those who disagree with him. He's back in western Kansas just about every weekend, touching base with his voters. He's not from the radical right wing of the GOP, and he's one of the few Repubs who stood up to the torture bill.
He's a good man, he's worked hard for his huge district, and I've encouraged others to support him.
I just find it bizarre to treat his re-election by a narrower margin than in previous years as symbolic. It's a very Republican district and his opponent was politically inexperienced. Why wouldn't he win by a large margin? It's a bit "dog bites man."
Ah, I see.
Most of us out here are just glad he's not a Connie Morris clone.
CSA, as for being a 'Connie Morris clone", he might as well be. According to his voting record, he was a "rubberstamp republican" 95% of the time. And that we can do without.
baracon, Morris pretty much takes the prize for crazy out here. Although Moran's voting record isn't my idea of The Perfect Representative, he does represent the views of most of his constituents.
Jerry Moran isn't calling evolution a "fairy tale," or a "nice bedtime story." From what I can tell, his junkets are to places like Iraq, not Florida resorts. Although he's a man of faith, he's not trying to push it on the rest of us like Connie was - whose motivation in running for office wasn't to serve her 'district, state, or nation, but to bring more people into the Kingdom of Heaven.'
No, I didn't agree with Moran's vote on the Church's Free Speech act (or whatever Orwellian name that now-dead bill had), or with his vote on stem cell research. He did vote against the torture bill, though, and that was a big move away from The Party Line.
Doll's campaign may have served notice to Moran that we're not all 100% satisfied with his job performance. Moran's a highly intelligent man - if he doesn't heed that message, I'll be surprised.
But Moran's *definitely* no Connie Morris.