Dear Jim Leach: I'm Sorry

All right, I feel bad for being so mean to Jim Leach in an earlier post. According to Wikipedia, Jim Leach is actually a decent guy who happens to be a Repugnantcan:

Leach is consistently one of the most liberal Republicans in the House. He voted against the 2002 Iraq War Resolution and favors abortion rights. He supports strong environmental measures. He was the only House Republican to vote against the 2003 tax cut. His district is considered Iowa's most Democratic district and became even more Democratic after redistricting in 2000. His hometown of Davenport was moved to Jim Nussle's district, forcing Leach to move to Iowa City. He faced his closest contest ever, winning by only four percentage points. Leach is a member of many moderate/liberal Republican groups such as the Republican Main Street Partnership (which supports Stem-cell research) The Republican Majority For Choice and Republicans for Choice (both support upholding Roe v. Wade), Republicans for Environmental Protection and Its My Party Too.

Despite having served on then-Congressman Donald Rumsfeld's staff in the mid-1960's and later working with both Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney in the Nixon administration, Leach has been one of the few Republicans in congress reluctant to support continued expansion of the US military role in Iraq.

In other words, he’s the type of Republican that I think makes government work because he is reasonable, but also serves as a bit of a balance.