Politico has a story today about the Kansas Congressman with real C Street "Fellowship" credibility, Jerry Moran. At Forward Kansas, we've previously reported the indelible ties of Sam Brownback and Todd Tiahrt to the C Street "Fellowship" (here, here, and here). But, according to Politico, the Kansas Congressman that has really benefited from his close association with C Street is Jerry Moran.
Moran, who, along with KS-04 Congressman Todd Tiahrt, is engaged in the race to succeed Sam Brownback in the United States Senate, has received many more notable endorsements in his bid for the Senate seat, especially from sitting United States Senators. Politico notes:
...[W]hen it comes to some of the most influential Senate conservatives, Tiahrt has come up nearly dry in his GOP primary against Rep. Jerry Moran. In fact, all but one of the seven Republican senators who have offered endorsements in the open Senate race have weighed in for Moran over Tiahrt, his House colleague.
There are a variety of reasons why, but for several of the senators there was a more personal component to their decision to wade into a contested primary between two GOP House colleagues: a C Street connection.
Tiahrt, while he denies the connection, has participated in C Street counseling sessions, but Moran lives in the C Street house with as many as 18 other wingnut members of Congress. And, according to the Politico story, it is that close "personal relationship" that has benefited Moran the most in his endorsements race for the Brownback Senate seat.
While none of Moran’s C Street housemates, Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), nor C Street frequenter Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) says the C Street bond was the driving force behind their endorsements, Thune and DeMint acknowledge that the relationships forged there played a role in their decision-making process.
And, according to Brownback...
“Personal relationships are important,” said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a former C Street resident whose seat Tiahrt and Moran are pursuing. “That would have an impact on it — those personal ties.”
It's clear, though, that the Senators who have endorsed Moran do not see him as the moderate that he tries to play to his constituents back home in Kansas. Politico reported that wingnut South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, who admittedly is opposing health care reform not because of his principles, but instead to strike a "Waterloo" defeat against President Obama, had "expressed confidence Moran would emerge as a conservative force in the Senate."
Jerry Moran, another C Street cult conservative, has successfully painted himself a moderate to the good folks back home in Kansas. Moran who, for his part, said “[t]here is some credibility that comes from associating with [conservative Senators Coburn and DeMint]," is not being honest about his politics back home, and moderate, independent voters will soon feel the rub of another wingnut conservative Kansas Senator. After more than a decade of Brownback's divisive politics, Kansas voters are looking for a moderate and independent voice to represent them in the U.S. Senate, and Jerry Moran's conservative politics ain't it.