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During this year's rough-and-tumble Republican primary race for the Senate, Jerry Moran came out looking more conservative than he has generally been regarded during his House career, political analysts say.
But analysts say that was more of a perception created by the nature of the primary campaign with Moran defending himself against attacks by Todd Tiahrt rather than any real shift in Moran's political leanings.
Tiahrt was trying to paint Moran as the equivalent of President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said Chapman Rackaway, associate professor of political science at Fort Hays State University. "If an opponent attacks you and you don't respond and refute, you're toast.
"Tiahrt was very aggressive in attacking, so Moran had to respond. But in the end he never misrepresented his record."
Rackaway called Moran "center right" on the political spectrum.
Joe Aistrup, political science professor at Kansas State University, said conservative groups "ganged up" on Moran during the primary, and he responded by defending himself.
"Historically, Moran has talked moderate but voted conservative — very conservative," Aistrup said. "What made him different this time around was he not only voted conservative but he was talking conservative.
"For those who have known him throughout the years, they aren't used to him talking about immigration and the Second Amendment in such a forceful way."
Moran faces Democratic nominee Lisa Johnston of Overland Park in the Nov. 2 general election.
Johnston said Moran had portrayed himself as more of a moderate in the past.
"So it has left some individuals wondering who is Jerry Moran now that he did shift track quite a bit to compete against Todd Tiahrt," she said. "Only Jerry knows where Jerry stands."
But Dan Conston, spokesman for Moran's campaign, said, "There was no shift at all. Jerry ran on his record, and his record is a conservative one."
Ken Ciboski, a Wichita State University political science professor, said Moran's voting record indicates he is an "independent person."
"He will represent his constituency over what the party wants, what his leadership wants — whether it's minority or majority leadership," Ciboski said.
He noted that Moran, who has represented the 1st Congressional District since 1997, voted against Bush-backed initiatives such as No Child Left Behind and the Medicare Part D prescription plan.
Burdett Loomis, a University of Kansas political science professor, agreed that Moran sounded more conservative than he is because he was in a response mode to Tiahrt's attacks.
"He ran to the right, he ran to the right, he ran to the right," Loomis said.
Asked whether Moran is as conservative as his campaign suggested, Loomis said, "Sort of yes and no."
"He has a pretty conservative voting record and certainly over the last couple of years as partisanship has grown even greater in the House," Loomis said. "He has voted party line and has quite a conservative record.
"That said, I think the conventional wisdom is he's not someone tied truly closely to the social conservative movement. There is the perception Jerry is more moderate. He's not nearly as hard-edge as Tiahrt."
But Rackaway said Moran didn't portray himself during the primary to be more conservative than he really is.
"You can't do that," he said. "The moment you try to make yourself seem a certain way and don't have the record to back it up, it's going to be exposed."
Nonetheless, Aistrup said primaries typically pull candidates to ideological extremes.
"Most candidates in the general (election) will move more to the center," he said.
This Senate race will likely be an exception.
"I think Jerry will still maintain his conservative stance," Aistrup said, "but he will probably tone down the level of conservative talk that was typical of the primary."
At the same time, Rackaway said, that "opens up the door for Johnston to say, 'Oh, is he too conservative?' "
Loomis said none of that really matters, noting Moran's sizable lead over Johnston in the polls. A SurveyUSA poll conducted last month for KWCH-TV showed a lead of 46 percentage points.
"The election is over," Loomis said. "Jerry Moran will be the next senator, and I say that as someone who is nominally a Democrat.
"Jerry can go to Grenada for the next few months and it won't matter."
