Political trend-watchers are watching what’s happening in red-state Kansas with keen interest. The Los Angeles Times this week devoted an article to several recent defections by Kansas Republicans to the Democratic Party, noting that “the fracture within the Kansas GOP may foreshadow the future for the national party. The division between moderates and social conservatives is expected to define the contest for the party’s 2008 presidential nomination.”
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ re-election running mate, former Kansas Republican Party chairman Mark Parkinson, gave this reason for his switch:
“I decided I’d rather spend time building great universities than wondering if Charles Darwin was right.”
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in.Contact us
Follow us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- Regular on ACORN stole election?
- thomaswitt on ACORN stole election?
- Daniel on Open thread 11/21
- Daniel on ACORN stole election?
- Phantom on Open thread 11/21
- Daniel on Open thread 11/21
- thomaswitt on ACORN stole election?
- Regular on Open thread 11/21
- Phantom on ACORN stole election?
- thomaswitt on ACORN stole election?
46 Comments
What about the faction within the Democratic Party. The kook fringe leftist and the Moderates.
When the leftist had their convention they actually booed at Hiliary Clinton saying she is not left enough. :WTF:
I see a spilt there too, meaning that the Democrats will pick a real looser in 2008. I mean, they already have Howard Dean running the DNC and he is a real embarassment.
The parties from time to time swing like a pendulum, going far to one side and then back again.But if everything works out right (no pun intended) it will settle in the middle. I have no doubts that the middle ground within both parties will take their stance. Unfortunately that is where the apathy lives too, it will take both sides waking up and say “No you do not represent me!” and take the parties back.
When was the last time in statewide Kansas politics that 8 previously registered Republicans switched to the Democratic Party in order to run for public office? I am sure that it has been a long, long time. When was the last time in Sedgwick County that every Republican statehouse incumbent except one was being challenged by a Democrat, but the Republican Party failed to find a candidate to challenge four incumbent Democrats? I am sure that this transfer of allegiance reflects the current level of outrage in the electorate with the politics of the radical right-wing of the Republican Party, both nationally and locally. Whether these attitudes remain prevalent by 2008 is anyone’s guess, of course. But it will be interesting to see what happens this November.
Joe, if you had any idea what you’re talking about, you’d be dangerous.
It’s been interesting to watch this spat between the various flavors of republicans in Kansas. There’s not enough Democrats in Kansas for the republicans to beat up on, so they’ve turned on eachother.
republicans gotta have someone to hate and fight with.
Go for it, republicans…I’m pulling for ya!
Let’s get it straight on the politics. These so-called moderate Republicans are nothing more than a bunch of political opportunists who are out of favor with their party. They cannot get on the ballots they want and so they move in with ‘the enemy’.
This so-called transition in political attitudes is just more evidence that there is no difference between the two major parties.
MY, my, my………..aren’t the Repugs doing what they do best?Face it traditional Republicans, your party has left you behind!
HAD ENOUGH YET?nuff’ said
MODERATE Republicans (derisively called RINOs by the Righties) are welcome in the Democratic Party and will likely serve as a moderating influence there.
That’s a good point Ben. Moderate Republicans moving to the Democrats will just make that party move to the center. Maybe!
They couldn’t do it with the Republican Party, so they might have a tough time doing it with the Democrat Party as it is inching more left than ever.
The Kansas Democrats are possibly handing their line of succession over to the former Republican Party Chairman and claiming that as victory? We can argue if labels have meaning, but come on, Parkinson was more than just a Republican. I do not consider this to be a helpful move for my interests.
I love Joe Williams’ “yellow peril” rhetoric about the Democratic Left. It’s so quaint in a Cold War-ish kind of way.
Yep, don’t he remind you of Slim Pickens in “Dr. Strangelove”?Or maybe as Hollywood in Spielberg’s “1942″?
Hoddyvooooooood!!
More left than ever Joe? Napolitano in AZ, Blogjonovich in IL, Vilsack in IA? Don’t sound very left to me!
“The Kansas Democrats are possibly handing their line of succession over to the former Republican Party Chairman and claiming that as victory?”
…and you are surprised, um… why? After all, governor leadership is the best republican governor we have ever had. Why would she look to the democrats?
Party building, or “barn” building as Randy said? Nawwwwww…… No need to build a party when there is a perfectly good one lying around and looking for leadership.
Build the dems or just take what the r’s are throwing away? Retreads or new ideas? Dumpster diving, or new construction? I think we know which she prefers. She’s just like Karem Abdul-Jabbar hanging around the rim and knocking in the garbage as it floats by.
Nope, no party building here. Just a focus on another four.more.years. And the odd senate race or two on the horizon.
You think THAT didnt play into her decision to annoint a republican as the heir apparant?
But then, why would she care what so called democrats think? The party faithful swilling her blue koolaide sure wont speak up in the face of how her own party critics have been treated.
And the r’s cant speak up much against her, given their penchant for eating their own, their antics in the legislature, their slavish devotion to the kansas taliban, and their jihad on public schools. They are REALLY busy shooting themselves in the foot with those concealed weapons.
Besides, what moderate republican would want to speak up to governor dino when THEY could be the next fair haired boy fished out of the republican dumpster, brushed off, and run as another sebelius retread?
She dont need no stinkin’ democrats. She can win just fine without them…. as long as she acts republican, runs with the republicans, and keeps republcians happy.
I mean, even williams supports her, and he is about as nut case partisan as his ill informed “leftist” rants illustrate so well. And he supports her.
No wonder the krp cant beat her. She already co-opted their positions, their candidates, and their votes. And it works on voters like williams.
Why would she give a damn what DEMOCRATS think?
“MODERATE Republicans will likely serve as a moderating influence there”
That is very funny. Moderating from WHAT? How many “leftists” have you met at a kdp gathering? They are in damn short supply, and their numbers are larger only in comparison to their whispery voices.
Heheh. Anyone left of Newt got booted from or silenced by the kdp a LONG time ago. No one should ever forget that governor leadership “leads” (rules?) with an iron fist inside the party.
Republicans will make the kdp MORE moderate? heheh. How about moderating it left because the entrenched kansas democrats are JUST AS FAR RIGHT as the kansas republicans.
Tweedle dum and tweedle dee, what ever shall we do? Vote for republicans? Or republican lite?
That is the real”choice” in kansas.
Well Joe, I know how gives you Pubs a warm feeling to vilify Dean. He is turning into the GOP’s second-worst boogyman, the first, of course, is Hils. But you have to give him credit: Love him or hate him, he has 2X4ed the Democratic party and has gotten Dems to talking about the party and what it stands for. Every organization needs its butt kicked once in a while.
“No wonder the krp cant beat her. She already co-opted their positions, their candidates, and their votes. And it works on voters like williams.”
Can you say William Jefferson Sebelius?
May not agree with ALL of it, KFG, but those posts were mastersfully written.
“masterfully” (not sure that is even a word – but you know what I mean)
I prefer “mistress fully” myself :)
Ok! We will see in November! Let’s see who emerges the victor.
Well duh, william jefferson sebelius will win!!!
She has co-opted the best and brightest of the republicans, tossed out all the real democrats, distracted the voters with her bright and shiney object of party crossing, “moderate republicans” and the kansas gop refuses to run anyone but WINGNUTS against her.
How could she lose? Maybe ruby, sts, etc, lmnop can enlighten us?
Of course she will win, but not because she is so good or so brilliant, or because she has built an infrastructure in kansas to outlast her next race.
She will win big, because the kansas gop will, like lemings, follow their taliban leaders into the sea.
Snorkle gear anyone?
ksfarmgrrl:Not a little bitter are we? I can’t say as I disagree with your assessment of the Gov and her politics. Many rank and file are wondering if she is running with the Dems or away from them.
I agree with you that there will be little to nothing from the Dems in the way of opposing her choice. She does not forget her detractors.
no shit :)
I was warned early on about “unintended consequences” concerning water issues.
When the D’s have nothing to offer she had to go somewhere to find someone that she felt was good enough to be her running mate. The rank and file D’s are just her worker bees and they will follow and do her bidding. So you will not hear them complaining about her choice of running mate (at least not in pubic). If they complain she will not share any of the money she has collected with them and she will not allow them to have their picture with her. So they will do as she says and when she says it. They are not allowed to voice any opinion that is different from hers or they will be called to her office and receive an attitude adjustment. If they don’t obey what she says then they will feel the wrath!
It is funny to watch the Democrat cult. They follow and get used and keep going back for more. They are so excited to have some Republicans join them because their Governor told them they had to be happy about it. The media is excited because it gives them something to rag on the Republicans about.
I still feel sorry for the Democrat’s. They have worked so hard to serve their Queen and she has snubbed her nose at them. She has showed them that they are not good enough to work along side her. They are only good enough to be workers and do her bidding. If that is success in the Democrat party then I would had to see what failure is.
Be happy! Be happy! The Queen has chosen and spoken! Do her bidding or else!!
How funny is all of that?
…and you are still going to lose?
how funny is THAT!!!!
Water issues? Doesn’t the Sebelius family have a Reservoir names after them? Somewhere out in Western Kansas near you?
That’s actually ironic.
That all depends on your definition of lose. If winning is to be a slave of the Queen what have YOU won?
Look at actual numbers of those changing parties from March 2005 till May 2006:
In Kansas are more Republicans becoming Democrats, or are more Democrats becoming Republicans?http://www.saljournal.com/blogs/?p=872
“I prefer “mistress fully” myself :)”
I agree, KFG. Sorry I missed your reply. RL, you know. But, and still, those posts were wonderful and you should be paid for them. I know you know that.
Ruby needs to put down the crack pipe as our civil discourser, Mr. Shank Price, would say.
Please, KFG, don’t respond to her. It does no good, wastes bandwidth, and while it amuses people like me, it is probably not worth it.
Peace.
That nasty meadowlark is leaving his bird poop here again? My, oh, my…
Truth hurts doesn’t it Darwin? ROFL!!!!!!
Well, DD, I am hardly a slave to the queen, so it never occured to me to reply to that particular piece of rubyspin. But since you asked…:)
I thought we were talking about losing gubenatorial elections, which seems to be the ksgop forte.
Yep, I am no fan of governor leadership, and would have just about supported a yellow dog if one had run against her. But the kansas gop couldnt even run anyone THAT good. Nope, they pulled the wingnut lever on the kansas republican party machine.
Alas… if ruby and her ilk had not hijacked the kgop and installed the wingnut regime, if they had not so gleefully engaged in their jihad on public education, if they had not sold their morality for a “well done” from fred and terry and joe on the hate amendment, if they did not slavishly support THEIR queens (susan “gambling money” wagle, kathe decker, bonbon huy connie morris, the Kansas Koulters) they could have my FULL support. And more bipartisan support than just mine.
But of course, ruby and her crowd didnt go for the votes and the victory, they went for the most viscious flavor of koolaide.
They did a home video of “wingnuts gone wild”, complete with gleeful debauchery during the republican fiddle tune played while kansas burned the last four years. They drunkenly and happily whizzed on gay people and public education and gambling and a host of other “mainstream” issues while popping the cork on more intoxicating business tax cuts.
Had ruby and her republican pals behaved like adults, and not the “wingnuts gone wild” that they are, had they not pandered to the clubforgrowth/americansforprosperity/kochbrothers on economic issues and thumbed their noses at mainstream voters, had they not pandered to the EXTREME bigotry and wingnuttery of terry/joe/fred/ on social issues, mark geitzen and his hate mongers on a woman’s right to privacy…
…and had ruby and company not generally been on their knees in front of the wingnuts who deny the right to vote on casinos… had they not slipped the surly bonds of earth and went into uncharted territory of wingnuttia, they would have gotten support from mainstream voters in kansas.
But…they didnt. The kansas wingnut republicans chose the wrong suitcase, and now voters, after carefully consideration with their family and friends, are telling them, “no deal”.
Heheh. Doug Mays as Howie Mandel and the kansas koulter girls on stage opening the empty suitcases while governor leadership gets blindfolded and STILL picks the winner.
heheh.
The kansas republicans could be in Cedar Crest next year if they were not politically tone deaf and if they listened to the voters. Do you hear Steve Martin saying BUT NOOOOOOOOO……?
The kansas republicans could have had our FULL support in bringing governor leadership back to reality with a big fat loss for doing nothing but hanging around the rim over the last four years.
They could have our FULL support to make public governor leadership’s SHAMEFUL policy on water resources, her SHAMEFUL pandering to the bigoted and dino jan pauls and candy rufffs of the world, and her NUMEROUS broken promises to her “base”. (Note, base means slavish blue koolaide drinking queen worshipers.)
Ruby is correct about one thing. The governor’s “base” just choses to ignore how she treats them. Probably a consequense of having been so severely abused by the wingnuts for so long, they do in fact slavishly lick the queens hand in the HOPE of a kind gesture.
But noooo, no sanity from the kansas gop this year. The ruby/sts/nick/priceboys wing of the republican party have completed their hijack, and they are ADDICTED to losing. They will do anything to get another fix. Just watch them.
Like the dirty little bottoms they are, they LOVE to be humiliated, made to look like fools, and they totally get off on generally being abused by the dominatrix queen. And like good little bottoms, writhing in pain from the last beating, they just say “could I have some more please” every time they open their wingnut mouths.
Hell, they HELP the queen get elected every time they show their wingnut asses on such things as the war on public education and the hate amendment. You wanna tell me they dont LOVE being humiliated?
I mean, why else would they keep running wingnuts when the queen can defeat them so easily?
They must LOVE being degraded, the sweet aphrodesiac of humiliation, abuse, and lost elections against the queen, mistress sebelius.
I will just never understand what motivates bottoms…..
Sorry dd, I know I took the bait. But if you lob a big, slow, fat pitch over the center of the plate…
…I am not strong enough to resist swinging at it!
I do hope you were amused.
Truth hurts doesn’t it Darwin? ROFL!!!!!!
Posted by: Ruby | June 15, 2006 at 02:03 AM____________________________________________________________________
Ruby, better watch that ROFL. You may not be able to get up.
Kansas; better dead than red!
Oh, and Ruby,You might try clicking those slippers three times. That could help you return to the REAL KANSAS.
KFG,I thought I replied to your non-breaking curve ball post a while ago. Either it was deleted or a “technical problem” like VB showed up again. Hmmm…..
Maybe they really are out to get me.
If they would only ask, I could tell them that I am not important enough to persecute.
“Maybe they really are out to get me.”
heheheh. Just because we are paranoid it does NOT mean they are not out to get us!! heheheheh.
KSFG,
It must be sad to be so unhappy all of the time. You offer a lot of complaints but no solutions.
Just so sad.
Ruby–
Does some one pay you to make these posts?
Just wondering.
Ruby,
KFG does indeed offer a viable solution when she implores: NO Incumbents! Our sytem, both parties are compromised and corrupt so real change has to be grass roots and bottom up rather than top down.
Viva La Raza Blanco!!!
Just saying no incumbents is not a solution. Anyone can say that. She complains a lot but has not offered up any real solutions or people to address the real issues.
You say grassroots but what are you doing? That’s right just complaining. No real action because that would mean you would have to really do something.
Ruby,
I am very active in trying to affect real change. Trust me, you can count on that.
Viva La Raza Blanco!!!
Then why not say what that change is?
Havent we done this dance with the rubester before? This “I’ll show my credentials if you show your credentials”?
I seem to remember she worked 43 campaigns and won them all. I remember being impressed with that level of perfection.
Just because you dont know us doesnt mean we are not out there working for change in which we believe and support. You wanna know WHICH change? Why? So you can slam us about that if it doesnt fit your agenda? Please, tell us how you would dismantle public education if you won the jihad on schools in the next election?
Hehehe. November is gonna be fun in kansas. Especially the wednesday after the first tuesday.
I wonder what nic ruby will use after the elections?
“Mudd” has a nice ring to it……