Please! Someone Run Against Jim Moran In The '08 Democratic Primary

The Curmudgeon is represented in Congress by Representative Jim Moran, a Democrat who has been in Congress since 1991. Moran is in a "safe" Democratic seat--Virginia's 8th Congressional District--consisting of the deep blue wards of Arlington, Alexandria and a portion of Fairfax County.

We're sick of him.

Moran is one of those ethically challenged Democrats who think earmarking is a good thing. A few months ago, Moran told a friendly audience in Arlington that if the Democrats took over Congress, he would use his position on the Appropriations committee to "earmark the shit" out various projects.

With the Dems taking Congress, Moran's first act was to serve as a whip for Rep. Jack Murtha in his race for Democratic Majority Leader, a bid that failed miserably despite Nancy Pelosi's stupid decision to make a big public show of her support for Murtha. (Moran and Murtha are birds of a feather--Murtha is another ethically challenged earmarker.)

According to the Washington Post, Moran was anything but gracious in defeat: "There are a number of members who can't be trusted," he said. (Evidently, this was not a self-confession.) Murtha's foes "will be damaged by this." Even though the vote was by secret ballot, Moran said "oh, we have a pretty good idea" of who voted against Murtha. (Presumably, Moran is focused on members who he thought were going to support Murtha, but didn't.)

We won't recount here Moran's history of sleaziness and borderline ethical problems--if you want to dwell in that, go to http://www.goodbyejim.com/ a website devoted to getting rid of Moran.

It's sad, really. Arlington and the surrounding region that makes up Virginia's 8th Congressional District is as progressive and highly educated as you can find anywhere in the country. It's not a safe Democratic district simply because of a high minority population--it's a bastion of white liberalism.

So why can't we get a high quality representative in Congress? (Say, a Democratic version of moderate Republican Tom Davis in the adjoining district.)

We wish one of the many Democratic local office holders in the 8th would mount a serious challenge to Moran in the next Democratic primary. Moran is vulnerable: in the most recent election, he polled 7000 fewer votes in the 8th district than Democrat Jim Webb, running for Senate, and that was against an unknown Republican opponent (and a somewhat wacky independent).

Furthermore, we know from talking to Democrats in Arlington that Moran is widely despised. Most of us hold our noses and go ahead and vote for him because we don't have a decent alternative.

The biggest obstacle to fielding an opponent to Moran is that his district covers three separate local jurisdictions--Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax--making it more difficult for a popular local official from one of those to be known in the other two. Still, we think a quality opponent could pull it off.

So c'mon, local pols--someone jump in!