Editorials

Many paths lead to Congress. In the recently completed race for Alabama's 3rd Congressional District seat neither hopeful spent much time on the high road to D.C.

Mike Rogers, the Republican incumbent and eventual winner in Tuesday's closer-than-expected polling, and Democratic challenger Josh Segall fought hard. They both traded sharp jabs in TV commercials.

In fact, the surest sign that Segall, a lawyer and first-time politician still in his 20s, was gaining on Rogers was when the Saks congressman played the same old, tired clichés Republicans have used on Democrats for decades. Rogers' ad portrayed Segall as a liberal whose values didn't line up with those of the district, a meaningless allegation that, most importantly, won't secure one more dollar for completion of the Eastern Parkway.

Likewise, Segall took liberties with Rogers' voting record, an old trick in deceptively distorting the real story about one vote out of the thousands cast in a congressional term.

The bottom line in politics is to win, and that is what Rogers did, ensuring a fourth term representing east Alabama in the U.S. House. For his 5-point victory, Rogers is to be congratulated.

On his to-do list when the next Congress meets, Rogers should try to erase the memory of 2008's ugly campaign. He spent so much time telling us why to vote against Segall that 3rd District residents may need reminding why Rogers belongs in the U.S. House. (Hint: It's about more than irritating House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.)

We need a congressman who will vote in the best economic interests of all of the 3rd District. We need a representative who knows more tunes than the classics from the GOP songbook. It doesn't take much insight to realize that Republicans' hollowed-out ideology (low taxes for the rich and little regulation over business) is quickly losing its attraction across the country.

No reason to expect the Third will resist the trend forever. According to unofficial results, the difference between Rogers and Segall was 16,701 votes, or just a little more than the population of Cleburne County.

With Democrats closing in on a nearly 90-seat advantage in the House, now is the time for Rogers to break out. He should return to Washington prepared to form new alliances, to set aside the politics of unnecessary division that marked his campaign, and to turn toward progress.

By process of elimination, Rogers has become more moderate among his Republican House colleagues. The reason is because districts once friendly to moderate Republicans in the Northeast and elsewhere have been disappearing in recent elections. Many of those left are hard-core Republicans who even now won't budge on the policies that have landed our economy in the ditch. All the better for Rogers, who can take the opportunity to stand out for moderation and compromise in the cause of serving his country and his district.

The alternative is risky. Walking the ideological line
while ignoring the folks back home left North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole and many other fellow Republicans as roadkill on Tuesday.