What’s Jim Ryun up to?

We’ve lost track of former Kansas Congressman Jim Ryun, the former world-record holder in the mile.

Until Wednesday, that is,

when an op-ed Ryun penned showed up in USA Today.

These days, Ryun, who served five terms in the House beginning in 1997, heads a conservative political action committee called The Madison Project.

And, as Ryun made crystal clear in his piece, the project is all about electing conservatives to Congress. In particular, he seeks conservatives who will seek what he called “transformational change.”

These conservatives “are committed to promoting a new standard in Washington – one in which principled leaders actually fight and win battles for conservatives,” Ryun wrote. “They will do whatever it takes to shrink the size of government – including filibusters against harmful legislation in the Senate or voting against rules to consider bad legislation backed by GOP leadership in the House.”

He also said this:

“It's no longer enough to elect mild-mannered pale-pastel types who will merely slow the inexorable growth of government when they control Congress, following years of massive growth during Democrat control. We must elect fighters who are willing to use pressure points such as the debt ceiling or budget bills to force transformational change.”

Ryun points out that The Madison Project was the first conservative group to endorse Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who’s at the front of the new vanguard of congressional conservatives.

This story was originally published August 15, 2013 at 9:47 AM with the headline "What’s Jim Ryun up to? ."