"A fine line on early campaigning?" by Congressional Briefing / LJWorld.com

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A fine line on early campaigning?

The GOP Senate campaign between two Kansas Congressmen, Todd Tiahrt and Jerry Moran, has received much attention in the media since January.

Polls have the two House members virtually tied for the August 2010 primary.

Tiahrt's campaign has created a statewide ad that blasts President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the federal stimulus package.

Moran, of Hays, during a Monday interview with the Journal-World declined to say much on the campaign with his fellow House member.

"The best campaign for office is to do the job that you have as well as you know how to do it," he said.

From a political standpoint, that might be the safest response to give a reporter. However, it did bring up an interesting question: How do the candidates balance the politics of campaigning against each other without making voters sick of hearing about it?

It's also risky, given that members of Congress have so much on their plates this summer.

After all, the election is more than a year away, and the only Democrat to express interest in the race so far is retired communications executive Charles Schollenberger, of Prairie Village.

On another note, Anne Schroeder Mullins, of Politco's Shenanigan's blog, has pointed out criticism of Tiahrt's Senate campaign logo. Kansas Democrats on Tuesday morning have circulated her post via Twitter and an e-mail to media members.

By George Diepenbrock

June 23, 2009

Congressional Briefing