Moran and Jilka
With the mid-term elections drawing ever closer, there is much national speculation about whether Republicans will wrest control of at least one house of Congress back from the Democrats.
Let the rest of the country speculate all they want. In northwest Kansas, we like to deal with reality. Area voters have the opportunity to influence the outcomes of two key national positions: The Senate seat vacated by Republican Sam Brownback, who is running for governor, and the House of Representatives post vacated by Republican Jerry Moran, who is seeking Brownback's old job.
Even with familiar faces in the races, there is no incumbency factor on either side. As such, Kansas will send new individuals to both ends of the Capitol to help solve our nation's woes.
There are a lot of them. Even with withdrawal deadlines announced, we are at war still in Iraq and Afghanistan. The economy is beginning to turn the corner, yet we still have close to double-digit unemployment and an ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots. The national debt continues to grow, the largest entitlement programs have funding issues, and we have yet to strike reasonable balances on regulating financial markets and access to health care, nor do we have compromises fashioned regarding policies on immigration, energy or taxation.
There is a lot to do in Washington. Honestly, we have grown tired of years -- if not decades -- of partisan gridlock grinding everything to a halt. We need individuals with the ability to solve long-term problems that won't go away.
The Hays Daily News recommends Hays' own Jerry Moran as the best candidate for the U.S. Senate to accomplish what's needed. The moderate Republican has a commanding lead in the polls over Democrat Lisa Johnston, and an even larger lead in fund-raising. Moran's popularity in the 1st District alone will be enough to carry him to victory. The political novice Johnston will do well to finish ahead of Libertarian Michael Dann and the Reform Party's Joseph Bellis.
We would hope Moran uses his Beltway experience and support from Kansans to do more than act as another GOP nay-sayer to President Barack Obama. Reform and change is desperately needed in our nation's capital, and Moran is uniquely positioned to help lead such efforts. After 14 years in the House and eight years in the Kansas Senate, Moran will be a well-seasoned freshman senator. We expect him to leverage his influence for the betterment of not just Kansas but the entire country.
On the House side, Democrat Alan Jilka has the best chance of getting things done. We would recommend the former mayor of Salina over Republican Tim Huelskamp, the state senator from Fowler, and Libertarian candidate Jack Warner.
Jilka is the only candidate in the mix who already represents mainstream Kansans. He will have a learning curve regarding Washington, D.C., but will not need any primers regarding moderation, compromise and the ability to work with members on both sides of the aisle.
We need lawmakers ready to help solve critical national issues on Day One of the new congressional term. The best candidates, in our minds, are Republican Jerry Moran in the Senate and Democrat Alan Jilka in the House of Representatives.
Editorial by Patrick Lowry