Alan Bjerga from The Eagle’s Washington, D.C., bureau wrote a column Sunday comparing and contrasting Rep. Todd Tiahrt’s re-election race with Tiahrt’s 1994 race, in which he unseated Dan Glickman. Could the underdog win again? Not likely.
Bjerga noted that Tiahrt overcame a huge funding disadvantage against Glickman, but it was not as sizable as that of Tiahrt’s current opponent. Garth McGinn (in photo) had $2,700 available on July 12; Tiahrt had $1 million. Bjerga said Gov. Kathleen Sebelius might bring more Democratic voters to the polls, which might help McGinn. Then again, Phill Kline may bring out conservative Republican voters.
Still, as was the case in 1994, there is a lot of passion against incumbents, particularly related to the war in Iraq and gas prices. And as Bjerga noted, "this is shaping up to be an unconventional year in American politics. People in both parties are seeing a wave forming."
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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49 Comments
Who is McGinn running against? Since Tiarht’s self-imposed term limits run out this year there isn’t a Republican running.
Tiarht is running… Remember, his self-imposed term limits dont apply to him…
If I could afford it, i’d give anyone who ran against Tiarht a million bucks just to get Tanker Todd out of office…
Todd one thing….remember Lieberman? be afraid, but very afraid! The devil that is your support of Iraq is coming to consume your soul..what little there is left.
Oh, but Todd’s a super guy, and I know him and Phillllll.They are both wonderful, bla bla bla….
And let me just say this:John Kerry hates war.Bill Clinton likes sex.Ha. take that.
Heaven forbid — that an incumbent politician could be given the heave ho!
Nothing much is going to change this election year.
Tiahrt is in there for life. Unless he retires, is found gay, or a dead girl is tied to him, he isn’t going anywhere.
McGinn is such a joke. He has never done anything to help either party but now he wants to be a Congressman.
It appears that he thinks he can ride on the coattails of his sister (Senator McGinn) and the Governor. He must be a Mommas boy to want to ride the coattails of two women.
Heh, Heh, Heh…..
I’d love to see Toddy boy out but Garth is not the person who has any chance of doing it.
Much as I’d like to see Tiahrt out on his sorry arse, I don’t think McGinn is the man to do it.
Randy Rathbun and Carlos Nolla were both stronger candidates and both lost.
But I do fault the Dems for running such soft campaigns against T Squared. If you’re going to lose, at least do some damage to the WORST. CONGRESSMAN. EVER.
The Dems have some young challengers coming up that will be ready soon. Then we’ll see T boy in his next life as lobbyist for the big aircraft multinationals . . . sorta like now actually.
Capn
I think either Rathbun or Nolla could make it this year… I think either of them are a better canidate than McGuinn. I’ll find myself voting for him anyway though…
Heh, Heh, Heh,… Truth hurts.
Yeah, the laughs on you, Slothy.
You support the idiot.
Congratulations, you er, win.
Don’t look now Eagle, but your bias is showing. The democratic party seems to have a built in Press Secretary right here in Wichita.
Don’t look now Eagle, but your bias is showing. The democratic party seems to have a built in Press Secretary right here in Wichita.
Hey, DICK, that was perhaps the stupidist and most misinformed post ever to see the light of day on this WEblog–and that’s saying a lot, believe me.
Check The Eagle’s picks in the last four election cycles–they overwhelming endorsed RePUKE candidates and endorsed Tiahrt every flipping time.
Their op-ed page is a steady litany of right-wing ideologues: Cal Thomas, Kathleen Parker, and their own new guy that we call “values boy.”
Man, when you are wrong, you are so f***ing wrong.
But you chose the right name for yourself, DICK.
I think ol’ Tanker Todd could be in trouble. Just where ARE all those tanker jobs anyway?
Ya know the joke about how kansans will vote “dry” as long as they can stagger to the polls?
They will also vote for the holiest of the rollers as long as they can stand in the unemployment line and receive their checks.
And we have to ask “what’s the matter with kansas?”
“Jobs? We dont need no stinkin’ jobs. Just pray to god and row ME to shore!”
So sayeth saint todd.
sts, november, and the GOVERNOR’s non-race will be so.much.fun.
heheheheheheheheh
…and now that you mention it sts, ruby, kcl, lmnop, whatever nic you are using today…
….where is part time jim and susan “I own bingo parlors but you cant vote on gambling” wagle?
Awfully quiet now, arent they? Isnt this usually the time, after the primaries, that the candidates unite, sing kumbaya, and pledge unity to defeat the evil incumbent?
heheheh
awfully quiet out there. Out of money? Party division? A deep sense of impending embarassment?
Check out my friend’s blog here for more….
http://www.kansasprairie.net/blog1/blogindex.htm
Here is part of what Peg has to say.
“What’s happened to Jim Barnett? He seems to have vanished since winning the Republican primary for governor.
Usually, following such a victory, the candidate takes advantage of free media attention and balleyhoos it far and wide. Not so Barnett; he dropped out of sight. His website hasn’t been updated; there is no victory message, no dates for appearances or the usual campaign trail material.
He and Susan vanished into thin air.
Speculation has it:
…he spent all his money in the primary…he’s busy calling all his previous donors without much success…his ineffective campaign chair is at a loss as to what to do so is doing nothing…he’s busy doling out aspirin
or
he realized his race was hopeless and gave up once Sebelius appointed Mark Parkinson as her running mate.”
hee hee hee hee
so sts, perhaps you can provide some insight here as to the TOP of the r ticket?
No coattails anywhere in sight….
Hehehe, KSfrmgrl!
You probably already know the old the joke reportedly told by a former editor at The Eagle: “Kansas will vote to lose their jobs as long as they can keep their guns.”
so sadly true cap!
heheheheheh
God! GUNS! GAYS!
The trifecta of tools for inciting hate!
and might I add…
bill clinton! al gore! gay marriage! immigrants! muslims!
They hate it when you make fun of all their sound bites.
It’s official. Bjerga now has Potamic Fever and fancies himself as a pundit. What a laugh.
hee hee hee Dennis
I thought the same thing. I read his blog.
Yaaaawwwwwwwwn.
almost reminicent of meadowlark poop.
And he probably gets as many hits as the poopster.
It may be a long shot but if the young people, Democrats, Independents and the seniors all vote for Democrat McGinn – he may just have a shot at Tiarht this year. Like the Religious Right always like to state something from the Bible – remember David and Goliath?
Methinks Tiarht will win, but, like the late Jim Jeffries, he will be made so miserable by a Democratic majority that will be out to get him for his ties to Tom DeLay that he won’t run again.Better enjoy that pork while you can… we ain’t gettin’ any more any time soon.
Some of you have said that McGinn is not the right man. After reading his website he has more substance than Tantrum Tiahrt could ever dream about!!!
Garth McGinnhttp://www.daretwocare.us/
Spread the word and lets get this guy in office. Its going to take an effort to upseat that baseless hack, but I think it can be done if you tell your neighbors, friends, pastor, etc.
And also Brownlee from the Eagle, I will lose all respect for your paper if you guys endorse Tiahrt considering he blasted your editorial board back in July.
GET THE WORD OUT, TIAHRT HAS GOT TO GO!!!!
I’m on board Gary C. And to those of a fence sitting bent, I’d like to remind that a man sure in his job does just what he has to to keep it. Tiahrt has never had any serious competition, so he really isn’t motivated to do anything but toe the party line. He forgot about actually representing his constituents a long time ago. A worrisome poll approaching the election might make him better reveal himself.
Gary is right to remind the readers and editors of Mr. Tiahrts earlier rant to editor. That was revealing too.
When I went to a town hall meeting with tiahrt , I found him personable and a smooth speaker. Except for his defense of De lay, it sounded more like a simplistic play ground defense of a class mate… “No he didn’t! He is really cool..” Otherwise he would say what ever you wanted to hear.
I talked to Garth last week about the election. Nice guy (I still don’t think he can win however) and he’s trying to get more volunteers organized and raise money. Those are the two ways you can most help him if you really want to see Todd take the walk of shame.
When Tiarht won the first time – he was so proud of his “under the radar” campaigning. Maybe the Democrats will do the same. Good things come to those who wait.
Well, FedUp, if you call running an ad over and over again in which Glickman’s face morphed into Clinton’s face and back again, then yes, it was under the radar.
Having lived through it, it looked more like above-the-radar character assassination and cheap shots.
But, hey, the Repukes gotta go with their strong suits.
Don’t forget how Ben Scorvino used the cable company to spread lies about Glickman.
Has anyone seen a blog about Rep. Foley naming Todd Tiahrt a “gay” republican? This was alledgedly in an email from Foley after his resignation. I hope it’s true and that will help rid us of this idiot.
I didn’t hear about Tiahrt being gay but he did accept bribes from Jack Abramoff.
I have researched further and it was not a blog, it came from a Florida press conference with Foley. It didn’t say that Tiahrt was gay but said that there were discussions with Tiahrt on the issue of Foley’s behavior. Either way, maybe we can dump him.
How about an ad with Tiahrt morphing into Abramoff and then into Foley!? And then to Bush touting the ports takeover!
How ’bout taking Tiahrt off the TV with all of his lies. That would make for a pleasant day and ensure he would go back to Goddard after the election. But then, maybe Goddard doesn’t want him either.
Tiahrt tried joining the cult that Brownback is a member of but he got rejected. How pathetic must someone be to be rejected from a cult?
All the talk – all the blogs – but it boils down to one question – how do we get rid of Tiahrt? The future of our state (and nation) depends on ridding ourselfs of the likes of him.
Todd will be re-elected. However, he will be marginalized in the minority party. Since he has been such a partisan he will have a particularly difficult time working with the Democrats.
Doug,
What cult, pray tell, are you talking about?
V.L.R.B!!
I agree with you, Ben: Tiahrt will be marginalized if the Democrats gain control of the House.
In fact, smart Wichita voters (smart = acting in their own, albeit collective, self-interest) would be wise to vote for McGuinn IF they think the Democrats will take control two weeks from this Tuesday.
Why? Because Tiahrt will be sent to the equivalent of Congressional Siberia, but a freshman D from Wichita would likely receive a plum committee assignment somewhere, maybe two. I think the DLC would love to put a stake through the heart of the political movement begun in Wichita by Randall Terry and that resulted in Tiahrt’s ‘94 win over Glickman. Giving his replacement an elevated profile might do just that, and a new Wichita D would likely be feted. If so, then one consequence of Tiahrt’s loss may be that all Wichitans would benefit economically.
This election should NOT be about issues, it should be a referendom on balancing power. Conservative vs. Liberal – hogwash – our nation needs to control the power of the Whitehouse.
Now Lynn Cheney steps into the ring – she has some gaul to make any commentary. She has backed her husband in every scam in the books. She really needs to take a lower profile, remember the story of glass houses.
TANKER TODD, THE DEBATE-LESS BOY WONDER!!
Has anyone read the book by pornographer Lynn Cheney? I bet right-wing pornography is boring.
Reading the comments here about tt and Garth …
Garth needs your help to upset tt — email him at his web page and volunteer to hand out fliers / palm cards etc …. he could use some money too — but feet on the pavement will aid immensely — tell your friends — neighbors — get a yard sign — he can win — we can help him — send letters to the editor of outlying counties / cities —- I’ve been a volunteer for him for about a month — it will be worth the effort come election day (hoping that the republicans haven’t bugged the voting machines) — GARTH CAN WIN THIS ___ HE NEEDS YOUR HELP —- DO IT NOW — the gap is closing ——–