The Opelika-Auburn News has endorsed U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers’ re-election bid in Alabama’s Third Congressional District.

The endorsement itself won’t be available on http://www.oanow.com until tomorrow, but it appeared in print this morning. Since I’m about to blog about it, I thought it would be helpful to reproduce it here for your review.

Rogers best for Third District, but performance must improve

Despite the fact he has run an incredibly misguided campaign that has brought out the worst in politics, Mike Rogers (R-Anniston) is best suited to win two more years representing the Third District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Democratic challenger Josh Segall, 29, is a very worthy opponent who has a number of great ideas anyone in either political party should adhere to. But Segall has never held public office—ever. Is it best for the constituents of this district to be represented in Washington by a man who has never sat on a city council, county commission or any other public office? No.

This is not the time for on-the-job training.

We recommend to Segall that he use his fire, wit and intelligence toward representing areas on a more local level before joining the ranks of the sharks on Capitol Hill.

Rogers has represented Alabama’s Third District in Washington since 2002, and his experience in local, state and national politics dates back to the 1980s.

Rogers needs to improve his local reputation among constituents and influence among his Washington peers. Accord to “power rankings” made available at http://www.congress.org, Rogers ranks 403rd out of 435 in the House, last among the state’s representatives.

The ranking is determined based on a number of criteria, including legislation and influence.

Rogers has shown a passion for the nation by serving on a number of committees, including Homeland Security, Agriculture and Armed Services, and we would expect his stature and influence to improve in coming years.

Rogers’ interest for solving America’s financial crisis is worth noting as he voted for the recent $700 billion Wall Street bail out bill. Segall said he would have boted against the bill.

Both Rogers and Segall share the desire for finding solutions toward reducing America’s dependence from foreign oil.

Both are advocates of finding alternative resources.

Talking about producing such resources and actually producing the resources are two different things. We encourage this race’s winner to spearhead this initiative as much as they were willing to talk about it.

Rogers takes pride in his experience on the variety of committees on which he serves. We must remind him that many of his constituents feel he has put the needs of Washington above the needs of placed like Roanoke, Opelika and Phenix City. We endorse Rogers for the Third District, but it’s time for Rogers to be less of a congressman and more of a representative.