How Moran got one of the best seats in the House

Having read in the Washington Post that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Tex., “claimed her favorite seat on the aisle at 8:06 a.m. — 11 hours and 54 minutes before” Tuesday’s State of the Union speech — we wondered when Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, put dibs on his own aisle seat. Moran’s press secretary, Nicole Young, told The Eagle editorial board that the congressman secured the seat “after 5 p.m.,” passing the time by working on his BlackBerry. That positioned Moran to shake President Bush’s hand and wish him well as he entered the House chamber, have a brief conversation with Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, and then get the president’s autograph after the address.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

8 Comments

  1. Jim G.
    Posted January 25, 2007 at 7:54 am | Permalink

    I can see where the autograph might be worth something in 300 years. Otherwise…Moran was acting very effeminate.It’s scary that anyone would consider this President as worth an autograph. He’s like the Milli Vanilli of politics.

  2. Nicki
    Posted January 25, 2007 at 8:58 am | Permalink

    I think it’s more sad that this is considered news….WEAK!!!!!

  3. political_mom
    Posted January 25, 2007 at 9:20 am | Permalink

    Moran has voted with Bush’s position over 95% of the time.

  4. WSClark
    Posted January 25, 2007 at 10:08 am | Permalink

    Waiting 12 hours for an aisle seat so that you could get a Bush autograph?

    Dang, that is creepy, maybe even a shade of perverted.

    I think I need to wash my hands.

  5. Chris from Mac Town
    Posted January 25, 2007 at 11:31 am | Permalink

    Reread the article WSC. It was Sheila Jackson Lee who claimed her seat 12 hours before the speech. Moran only waited 3 hours. What I think is creepy and even a shade perverted is the hatred you have for President Bush and Republicans

  6. J R
    Posted January 25, 2007 at 11:39 am | Permalink

    Lee’s behavior is indeed creepy.

    Maybe she wanted to see if bush was actually human and not a wind up toy?

  7. red
    Posted January 25, 2007 at 11:44 am | Permalink

    What’s with all this putting dibs on a seat for the State of the Union Address? It should be like school, if you have assigned seats, park your butt into it and sit. What’s so hard about that concept?

    But I do have to wonder about Moran getting that autograph after the speech? What was that about? Moran has been in Congress for how many years and Bush has been in White House for 6 years? Why has Moran never gotten Bush’s autograph before now if he was wanting one so bad?

    And that Lee from Texas is a Democrat? Why was she so fixated on getting an aisle seat?

    Maybe this is all about photo-ops for the people involved and has nothing to do with George W. Bush.

  8. Answerman
    Posted January 26, 2007 at 1:26 pm | Permalink

    Red,Each Congressman and Senator gets a commerative copy of the State of the Union speech on their desk. The ones that are close enough ask the President to autograph it. That’s the type of thing that will be in Moran’s office in a frame. If he’s ever as successful as Bob Dole, and library wants his papers (think Dole Institute at KU), those type of things will be on display. It’s not a personal trophy, more of an historical marker.