U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, the lone Democrat in Kansas’ congressional delegation, is among a group of 70 Democrats who have been targeted for defeat in 2010 by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Despite the fact that he’s an entrenched, veteran member of Congress, a spokesman for the NRCC said Moore was vulnerable because of his almost universal support for the agenda of leftist Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a record that contradicts his assertions that he serves his district as a conservative, Blue Dog Democrat. The 1994 defeat of longtime Democratic Congressman Dan Glickman by a GOP dark-horse candidate, Todd Tiahrt, still inspires many Kansas Republicans.

“Dennis Moore campaigned on a promise of putting Kansas first, yet six months into this Congress he has done nothing but put his party’s reckless policies first,” Paul Lindsay, an NRCC spokesman, told Kansas Liberty today.

Moore has not yet announced whether he supports a health-care reform package fashioned by congressional Democrats in collusion with the Obama administration. He features a questionnaire on health-care reform in his latest newsletter to constituents in which he indicates, “This survey is not meant as an endorsement of any particular proposal.”

Lindsay also pointed to Moore's vote for a $1-trillion stimulus plan in the largely Republican district he serves.

“Moore voted for a $1 trillion wasteful stimulus bill that has yet to produce jobs but has done plenty to burden future generations of Kansans with debt,” Lindsay said. “The 98 percent voting record that Moore has accumulated in favor of Nancy Pelosi’s agenda assures that he will face a stiff challenge next year.”

Lindsay said the 98 percent figure comes from the Washington Post congressional votes database.

Moore’s staff did not return e-mails from Kansas Liberty seeking comment on the NRCC’s action. He has not announced whether he plans to seek re-election.

The GOP has 178 seats in the U.S. House, so the GOP would need to win 40 seats in 2010 to regain a House majority.

In the meantime, a conservative-leaning group, the Coalition of Citizens Advocacy Groups, is planning a project it claims will hold Moore accountable. A planning meeting was held in Overland Park last night.

The group plans to take Moore to task in several areas, including:

• Not listening and acting on the wishes of his constituents

• Not reading bills before voting for them
  

• Not keeping his constitutions informed
  

• Failing to speak to his constituents in a town hall setting or other such public format.

Not all members of Congress conduct public-format meetings, but irate constituents claim Moore isolates himself from voters more than most.

- Phil LaCerte

Resources

• CCAG: http://ccagblog.wordpress.com/

• Washington Post Congressional database: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m001140/

The Week in Review