Todd Tiahrt is moving on.
In a move he claims is for the good of Kansans and America, Todd Tiahrt is leaving behind his much beloved and controlled congressional seat in the 4th district for a chance at greater fame and personal glory in the United States Senate. While I have discussed this before, I must bring it up again because the Democratic Party is now attempting to capitalize on Mr. Tiahrt’s abandonment of his district.
The DCCC has recently launched a Red-to-Blue campaign that is targeting eleven congressional seats around the country to take out of Republican hands, and Mr. Tiahrt’s beloved 4th District seats is one of them. With the outlook for which party controls Congress next year tightening, is it really best for America and Kansas if Mr. Tiahrt is elected to the Senate and his party loses his former seat?
I believe that Mr. Tiahrt should work harder to ensure that his seat remains in Republican hands, and right now he simply isn’t doing enough. While Tiahrt might say that he is a conservative first and a Republican second, the ability for lawmakers to pass a conservative agenda depends on the Republican party having control of Congress and in an election season that is shaping up to be tight, EVERY SEAT COUNTS.
It’s certainly too late for Mr. Tiahrt to drop out of the Senate race and start a House campaign, and I’m not asking him to do this, all I am asking him to do is show a little more support for the conservative candidates in his former district and to try his best to actually help America instead of merely working for himself.
Selflessly yours,
Publius
Showing posts with label Washington Insider. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington Insider. Show all posts
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Home is Where?
At the Kansas Republican convention last week, Mr. Tiahrt spoke out against apparent criticisms against his family by declaring, “I just think going after the families is out of bounds.” While I certainly agree that unwarranted criticisms against families are something that should be kept out of this dirty political process, I disagree with Mr. Tiahrt’s complaints as he was responding to criticisms that were decidedly NOT about his family.
Tiahrt was responding to his opponent’s (US Representative Jerry Moran) claims that Mr. Tiahrt moved his family out of Kansas to Washington. Mr. Moran’s main criticism of Mr. Tiahrt is that Tiahrt moved his family out of Kansas (while Moran continues to live in Kansas) and is therefore out of touch with Kansas voters. Setting aside Moran’s assumption that Tiahrt must be out of touch with Kansas voters because he no longer lives there, I want to look at the response from Mr. Tiahrt.
Instead of actually responding to the legitimate concern (that Mr. Tiahrt is more of a Washington insider than he is a Kansan), Mr, Tiahrt attempted to de-legitimize these comments by making false claims about how his family had been criticized. Not only was his family never criticized, but this response seems to be intentionally withholding important information from the voters that Mr. Tiahrt is asking to elect him to the Senate.
Mr. Moran’s criticism was not addressed towards the Tiahrt family because it addressed actions that Mr. Tiahrt himself took. Would the Tiahrt’s live in Northern Virginia now if Todd was not a US Representative? NO. Do we even know if Mr. Tiahrt's children wanted to move to Virginia before their father was elected? We have no idea. I don’t personally know the opinion’s of Mr. Tiahrt’s family (except, of course, what I can glean from his wife’s Twitter account), but I fail to understand how it is a criticism of them that they moved to Northern Virginia because of their father.
The larger problem with Mr. Tiahrt’s comments, however, is the snide way in which he attempts to brush off a legitimate criticism (that he is out of touch with Kansans) by making an illegitimate one (that the original comment was insulting of his family). I think we need Mr. Tiahrt to explain to Kansans how he is fully able to understand the needs and concerns of Kansas voters, if he doesn’t even consider the state his primary residence.
Deep down, the core of this issue is that Mr. Tiahrt has become more of a Washington insider than he is a representative Kansan. He doesn’t honestly answer a criticism when asked, but he dodges by making an even worse criticism of his opponent in the process. This is not the type of behavior that Kansans should expect from somebody that is claiming to represent them (even if he is no longer one of them), it is the type of behavior we should expect from somebody that is deeply entrenched in the Washington establishment—somebody that is accused of ethics violations, attends White House Christmas parties, and writes earmarks like it is his job.
I think Mr. Tiahrt needs to answer this criticism about why he no longer lives in Kansas, and how he can properly represent Kansans while he lives in Virginia; and I think he needs to answer this criticism without making further baseless remarks.
Critically yours,
Publius
Tiahrt was responding to his opponent’s (US Representative Jerry Moran) claims that Mr. Tiahrt moved his family out of Kansas to Washington. Mr. Moran’s main criticism of Mr. Tiahrt is that Tiahrt moved his family out of Kansas (while Moran continues to live in Kansas) and is therefore out of touch with Kansas voters. Setting aside Moran’s assumption that Tiahrt must be out of touch with Kansas voters because he no longer lives there, I want to look at the response from Mr. Tiahrt.
Instead of actually responding to the legitimate concern (that Mr. Tiahrt is more of a Washington insider than he is a Kansan), Mr, Tiahrt attempted to de-legitimize these comments by making false claims about how his family had been criticized. Not only was his family never criticized, but this response seems to be intentionally withholding important information from the voters that Mr. Tiahrt is asking to elect him to the Senate.
Mr. Moran’s criticism was not addressed towards the Tiahrt family because it addressed actions that Mr. Tiahrt himself took. Would the Tiahrt’s live in Northern Virginia now if Todd was not a US Representative? NO. Do we even know if Mr. Tiahrt's children wanted to move to Virginia before their father was elected? We have no idea. I don’t personally know the opinion’s of Mr. Tiahrt’s family (except, of course, what I can glean from his wife’s Twitter account), but I fail to understand how it is a criticism of them that they moved to Northern Virginia because of their father.
The larger problem with Mr. Tiahrt’s comments, however, is the snide way in which he attempts to brush off a legitimate criticism (that he is out of touch with Kansans) by making an illegitimate one (that the original comment was insulting of his family). I think we need Mr. Tiahrt to explain to Kansans how he is fully able to understand the needs and concerns of Kansas voters, if he doesn’t even consider the state his primary residence.
Deep down, the core of this issue is that Mr. Tiahrt has become more of a Washington insider than he is a representative Kansan. He doesn’t honestly answer a criticism when asked, but he dodges by making an even worse criticism of his opponent in the process. This is not the type of behavior that Kansans should expect from somebody that is claiming to represent them (even if he is no longer one of them), it is the type of behavior we should expect from somebody that is deeply entrenched in the Washington establishment—somebody that is accused of ethics violations, attends White House Christmas parties, and writes earmarks like it is his job.
I think Mr. Tiahrt needs to answer this criticism about why he no longer lives in Kansas, and how he can properly represent Kansans while he lives in Virginia; and I think he needs to answer this criticism without making further baseless remarks.
Critically yours,
Publius
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