Jordan v. Moore

Nick Jordan and Dennis Moore debated this past Sunday at JCCC. Having attended these congressional debates the past 2 cycles (Ahner in 2006, Kobach in 2004), I was struck by the number of Jordan supporters present: this was the first year that Republican supporters outnumbered Moore supporters significantly.

Also, unlike previous years, instead of coming across as upbeat, happy, and bipartisan, Dennis was snippy, tired, frustrated and petty. His futile attempts to link Jordan and President Bush were straight out of the Washington Democratic playbook, and his inability to talk about his own record was apparent. Jordan strategically challenged him on his support of the $700 billion bailout (Moore was the only member of the Kansas delegation--Republican or Democrat--to support the controversial Wall Street bailout). Moore dodged questions regarding his failure to hold hearings as a member of the financial services committee and his thousands of dollars in contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, instead arrogantly accusing Jordan of not knowing or talking to the "right" people as he did (the Treasury secretary, the president, and congressional leaders--who are all responsible for this mess in the first place). Jordan called Moore out on his hypocrisy--you cannot claim to be a fiscal conservative concerned about the national debt and criticize the president when you turn around and vote for the most expensive corporate bailout in history, adding $1 trillion to the national debt.

The best moment of the debate came when Moore defended his lackluster record by claiming that the President had not provided any leadership. Jordan replied that an effective congressman does not wait for the president to lead--he himself leads.

The debate was a knockout and Moore lost. I have never seen him this bitter and tired.