Toodles Tiahrt

Congressmen Todd Tiahrt says goodbye to Washington after 16 years in the House.

Tiahrt made use generous use of the earmark to bring money to this district, which is railed against on a national level but very appreciated back home (he secured funding for the levee here in Ark City).

It seemed that his ability to look after his district created support from those who would not otherwise like him because of his hard right social and fiscal views. But he kind of rejected that image and became a Tea Partier during the last election and trash talk earmarks and so-called "pork" spending. His continued fight tooth and nail for the Boeing airtanker contract falls under the general headline of pork, does it not?

Tiahrt seems to me to have been a reliable vote for social conservatism and he became a small player in the GOP leadership back in the 90s that brought Gingrich, DeLay, etc. to power. He also seemed a reliable vote for George W. Bush last decade and, for the most part, has a record as a principled conservative.

His hard right image, though, which he worked on, caught up to him a bit in going up against Jerry Moran for U.S. Senate, who had a more moderate image.