Hutchinson News Endorses Jerry Moran

Congress needs more public servants like Jerry Moran, the representative from Kansas’ expansive 1st District.

Whether or not you agree with all his political positions, you can count on him to care deeply about Kansas, to think hard on the tough decisions and to work tirelessly to reach out to and represent his constituents.

That is why it is a no-brainer to re-elect him to Congress. The six-term Republican congressman is opposed by Emporia Democrat James Bordonaro as well as Libertarian and Reform party candidates.

Moran typically draws only token opposition and easily gains re-election. But it isn’t because he has become a powerful Washington incumbent, propped up by special interests or protected by party loyalists and extremists.

He is a prodigious fundraiser, to be sure – most of which he is banking for an anticipated run for the Senate in 2010.

But he isn’t a vitriolic partisan. Maybe that is easier for him because he doesn’t have to get dirty to fight to keep his job. But whatever the case, the reason Jerry Moran enjoys huge popularity is because he stays in touch with people. That is how he has built his support.

He returns to his district nearly every opportunity. He lives in Kansas, not Washington. That has helped him not only stay in touch with the needs of his district, but out of the mainstream of destructive Washington politics.

And he doesn’t just return to Kansas to kick off his shoes and rest at home. He is always on the move, making appearances, talking to people in his district and taking advantage of opportunities to educate himself at the grassroots level on issues such as health care and law enforcement and economic development.

He is traditionally Republican in his voting, but he doesn’t always toe the party line – not when it goes against his principles or what he thinks is in Kansas’ best interests.

Congress has problems, but not all congressmen are the self-interested partisans we think typify Washington. Jerry Moran is one of the good ones.