Some choice quotes from around the state as Election Day approached:
“It’s like a car wreck. Everybody says, ‘It’s a tragedy,’ but they all crook their necks to see it.” — Tim Shallenburger (in photo), chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, on negative ads.
“So Jim Ryun says, ‘Do you want to race?’ I said, ‘No, but I want you re-elected to the United States Congress.’” — President Bush, stumping for the three-time Olympian.
“You know, it’s great to see all of you in such good health, but, of course, I already knew that. I’ve seen all of your medical records.” — Attorney General Phill Kline, joking to a crowd about his legal fight to subpoena abortion clinic records.
“If O.J. Simpson had been tried in Johnson County, he’d be on death row today.” — Kansas City area defense attorney Kevin Regan, on Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison.
“I don’t see that when historians write what happened in the four years Kathleen Sebelius was governor — or the first four, if she’s re-elected — that it’s going to be a very big chapter in the Kansas history books.” — Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence.
“This has been the best experience of my life, something I would not trade for anything.” — GOP gubernatorial nominee Jim Barnett.
P.S.: We’ll have an open thread tonight devoted to the election. So as the results come in, share your thoughts.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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48 Comments
If they could take all the Kline and Morroson ads and spread them over KS farms they would never have to fertilize again!
Add to that the Bonnie Huy adds and you’ve got a deal. This has been a bad year in terms of crappy campaign adds.
The crappy ads come from people who have dealt in fear as a political tool. Now they fear, and with good reason, that they are about to lose power. Desperation makes for crappy ads!
The Democratic leaders hoisted their own petards by moving farther left than the American public wanted to go, which dispirited ordinary middle-of-the-road people and caused them to switch from DP registration to Independent, and ultimately stay home on election day. At the same time leaders of the ultraright used the wedge issues of abortion and gay rights to mobilize millions of Evangelical Christians to vote.
Some commentary has been made of GOP leaders being hypocrits, and even wolves who gathered the sheep to fleece them, and the rest of the American public as well.
It’s clear in retrospect that America was damaged by both ultra liberals and (pseudo) ultra conservatives, the latter comprised of social dominators who didn’t personally object to abortion or gay activities, but who marshalled the votes of people who did object. (See Thos. Franks’ “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” which could have been titled “What’s the Matter with Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina…?” These GOP “leaders” weren’t interested in restoring morality to America, they were solely focused on the part of the Good Old American Dream of stuffing their pockets, and the ancien regime dream of aggrandizing themselves to as great a degree as they could get away with.
We’re returning to moderation. This election’s Democratic winners who will beat Republican incumbents are moderates. Republicans who will hold their offices in tight races are moderates.
We’ll find out if Todd Tiahrt reads the writing on the wall and decides to become a centrist, or if he continues to be a lackey of the soon-to-be-unplugged Gingrich-DeLay machine (which isn’t going to be able to strongarm corporate donors as it once did to build a humongous war chest). If TT chooses the latter course, he’s going to become irrelevant, which is not going to be good for South Central Kansans. He may gain reelection in 2008, but that’s about all he’s going to accomplish. He’ll be on the losing side of the vast majority of House committee votes and bills.If TT is politically savvy, we’ll see him join moderate bipartisan coalitions, and recast himself. Then maybe he can accomplish something for this region.
So Republicans are in trouble b/c they aren’t centrist enough?
That isn’t the case folks.
Sure it is. Where is the “Contract With America” architect today? Where is “The Hammer” today? What’s Bush/Cheney’s approval rating? America can’t be governed over the long haul by extremists of either party. The majority of Americans support a woman’s right to choose in a broader range of circumstances than rape, incest or threat to mothers’ lives. But it doesn’t mean they want third-trimester “partial birth” abortions, at a point in which pictures show these to be human babies, and neonatal intensive care units routinely save babies of this age–giving them intensive care because these babies are recognized to be human beings.
People want a better economy. But they are troubled by the conflict between increasing-value 401 (k) returns based on exportation of jobs to Asia, which generates higher profits and stock valuations, and loss of Americans’ jobs.
More and more people are getting it that fiscal conservatism in federal government cannot be lower taxes and higher expenditures funded by debt. They understand that they could live high on the hog by getting more credit cards, and maxing them out, but eventually the debt has to be paid (particularly with Republican-instigated restrictions on personal bankruptcy declarations).
People who originally gave Bush/Cheney deference, and supported the invasion of Iraq, on the premise that there were WMDs and the experts at the top were acting to protect America, now realize that they were misled.
They’re not buying the “either you support us (administration) or you’re for terrorists” propaganda, particularly when our military commanders and Republican experts such as former NSA director Brent Scowcraft are concluding that our invasion, combined with “cutting and running” from Afghanistan, have FERTILIZED terrorism, not curtailed it.
Ed, one of us is wrong. We’ll find out who that is, eh? Maybe you should contribute to Tom DeLay’s legal-defense fund, in hope that you can help him get acquitted and be then re-elected to Congress in 2008 or 10.
Ed may not be smiley tommorrow.
Whomever wins, be vigilant.It’s 3 o’clock election day afternoon as I write this. There have been reports of hanky-panky already. In Missouri, a touch-screen machine shows a tap on Claire McKaskill’s name resulting in a recorded vote for Jim Talent. In Ohio, a GOP candidate was sent home to get a photo ID before they’d allow him to vote. I’ve received half a dozen robo-calls in the past 18 hours; all from Republicans. This morning HBO ran “Hacking Democracy,” a documentary that ends with a randomly-picked Diebold optical scanner recording a sample 2 to 6 balloting as a 7 to 1 tally.Josef Stalin said, “It doesn’t matter who votes. What matters is who counts the votes.” I’d never figured Stalin to be a Republican but then, what do I know about Republicans? I’m a Democrat. I’m an old-fashioned, idealistic Liberal who still believes that the strength of democracy is that we’re all in this together and the ballot is sacrosanct. I’m so much of a blubbering patriot I still well up in tears when Lee Greenwood sings that medley of his hit, “God Bless the USA,” even though God and I have had our problems over the years and the USA has seemed to be, bit by bit, little by little, habeas by corpus, a little less USA over the past six years or so.So even if robo-calls convince poor people in Virginia that if they show up to vote, they’ll be put in the pokey if they have an unpaid parking ticket, I have faith in America.Even if that sleazy commercial in Tennessee (”He went to a PARTY!”) works and brings the “They want our white women!” vote out from the trailer parks, I believe in democracy.I’m predisposed, I admit, to believe that if tonight’s midterm election results in another two years of one-party rule, that it can be chalked up to another victory of one party successfully appealing to what Abraham Lincoln would have called “our worser angels.” That or fraud. At the same time, if the Democrats emerge from this election with certifiable victories that wrest a majority in either house of Congress, I hope they treat that majority (or those majorities…hey, I told you I’m an idealist) with a bit more Americanism than the folks who’ve run Capitol Hill since 1995.Nobody, I mean *NOBODY*, is going to come out of this election with a *mandate.* So don’t act like it, winners.I would home the winners of this election will look to the issues that bring us together, the important matters that make us the *United* States.A couple of hours ago, I voted a split ballot. I voted for people I hope I can trust to be bigger and better than wedge issues, sexual hypocrisy, religious fundamentalism, corporate greed, and ideological purity.We are all in this together. Whether everything you believe in wins or loses (by hook or by crook), please start working together for the common goal: that goal, by the way, is a *United* States of America.—–
I already told you I zapped the screens with my ray gun so they only vote Republican
From a post-er at DemocraticUnderground:
“Don’t ask me exactly how it started, I’m not sure (but I wish I could take credit for it)…
“I live in a conservative district with a corrupt conservative incumbent representative (Tom Reynolds). The race is dead even. I was standing in line to vote a few minutes ago and I started to hear a little bit of humming. I thought nothing of it. Then it got louder and more people were joining in, but I couldn’t hear what it was. It was a little irritating.
“But then it happened…
Some shouts out, “Na, Na…”
And then about 75% of the people joined in, “…Na, Na, Na, Na. Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye”
It went on for about 30 seconds (which is actually pretty long). Some people were practically screaming.
I have never felt that good in a long time. People are starting to get it.”
“I already told you I zapped the screens with my ray gun so they only vote Republican”
So that means when this country falls apart because of repuke rule, you ditto-heads can’t blame clinton anymore?
An eloquent post monkeyhawk
We are glad to have you posting with us.
Here is hoping tonight brings hope. We haven’t had much of that for awile. It’s overdue and we earned it.
I would like to be with the Eagle editorial board tonight while the election results come in. They won’t be able to contain themselves.Talk about multiple orgasms.
MonkeyHawk,Well said, my friend.
America will continue to careen towards the abyss, regarless of the outcome of this “election”. The future of this nation will be decided through bloodshed!
Viva La Revolucion Blanco!!!
Can I be a MonkeyHawk dittohead?;)~Very well written MonkeyHawk, thank you.
Monkey, I really like you. You really have a way of expressing how I feel.
REPUBLICANS WINNING HUGE IN 16 STATES!
sorry…couldn’t resist
Hey Monkey-GROUP HUG!Dopes
Feeeeeelings….wo wo wo wo feeeeelings.
The Eagle shouldn’t order the champagne just yet – same for the national liberal media. It looks like it will be a race to the finish. The silent might have awakened. What liberals see as looking into peoples bedrooms, some of us see as protecting children as young as 10 and 12 from being molested and the evidence destroyed at Tillers clinic. What some see as not voting for more funding for education, some of us see as elected officials being responsive to their constituents and voting for restraint in spending and not automatically raising taxes. I could go on but we all know there are two sides to every issue. I am anticipating the results tonight – or will that be the ‘last poll’?
Glad you got your shot in there, hotlick. We want to be sure to ridicule anybody who says something like this:
“I have faith in America.”
We want to be sure to scorn bipartisanship – that’s definitely for losers and “dopes”.
I am glad you are here, hotlick, to keep everybody on track.
[/sarcasm]
This is all very sophisticated, sophistry, wishful thinking and dreck!
Viva La Revolucion Blanco!!
It’s you people who blame America first. Where is the “faith in America” in that? It’s you people who are so lathered with hate that bi-partisionship is a non-starter.You can go back to throwing Oreo cookies at the Black Republican candidate.
The Centrist party will be kicking butt more then ever in the next election then in this election.Wait and see!
What is all fired great about being “centrist”?
V.L.R.B!!
Ian -Centrist is the same as unaffiliated.If they want to keep their job, you can keep them Repubs and Demos dancing for you because you are not tie to any special interest.They will perform better because they do not have to taylor to their own party demands.
Ian,
Do you vote?
LoL liberal hatred of America….yeah we’re not the ones trying to dismantle the Constitution. Repubs are disgustingly corrupt and cronies, they care about nobody (except fetuses).
S&M got something against feelings? Oh yeah, that’d require you to have a heart.
hl – I voted a very split ticket – bi-partisan. You?
Ian Santiago offers a valid question: “What’s so great about being centrist?”
For one thing, over the past decade or so, genuine centrists have been attacked by so-called “Mainstream Republicans” as far-left-liberal-faggot-terrorist-loving-card-carrying-ACLU-tax-and-spend-Jesus-hating-evolution-believing-once-born-baby-killing-condom-using-flag-burning-tree-hugging-pollution-hating-Christ-killing-Pope-worshiping-hybrid-driving-pinko-commie-kitten haters.
After a while, those of us in the genuine center begin to push back.
I just hate how liberals have been demonized. There is nothing wrong with being liberal.
It means moving forward, being more giving.
What MonkeyHawk has just said above is the guilty always points the finger.
“It’s you people who are so lathered with hate that bi-partisionship is a non-starter.”
Projection, and if that fails, spew Sean Hannity. Just marvelous.
For some people the above beats thinking.
Political Mom,
Yeah, giving more and more and more and more and more of my hard earned money. What are you going to do when those getting the entitlements (I hate that word, like they are entitled to anything) suddenly are more than those of us working and footing the bill.
For my fellow conservatives, heres a funny. I don’t listen to commercials on my car radio, so I switch back and forth when commercials are on. Yes, I will switch over to Air America (see Pravda)for a good laugh. Anyway I just got one, Randi Rhodes had some idiot (I think hepped up on goofballs, for as stupid as she was) from San Diego call in and say that she walked into the polling area today and they didn’t have paper ballots, SO SHE WALKED OUT. Said she couldn’t stand the idea of voting on the Diebold machines. I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD!!!!!
Unfortunatly, I think Rhodes was able to get through the fog of this little braindead and convinced her to go back and TRY and vote.
Rhonda is going to be out of a job now that the races are over and she no longer has anyone to whore over. This has to be the most blatent picture of all, should have had a picture of the both of them.
Rhonda, I hear Ken Melman needs someone to comfort him
Gene,
How were you able to hear AA in your car?
hotlick, if you paid attention you would know that we liberals don’t blame America. We blame the ignorant dumbasses like the current administration and yourself.
RD, XM radio has AA on it.
Gene despite what you have to say, liberals don’t want to live off entitlements. Liberals just believe that sometimes people need help. Where it comes from and how much is disputed by the right…they believe in charity only, but only enough to keep them barely alive and usually homeless- if even that.
So yes, I’m horrible for thinking we should care for our elderly, our homeless, our mentally ill and our children. And you forget, we libs pay taxes too.
Speaking of which, earmarks for pet projects are way up under Republican leadership- and not for helping people, for STUPID crap. What say you?
I always like Jim Hightower.
“the only thing you find in the middle of the road are yellow stripes and dead armadillos”.
Which one is the centrist?
hehehehehehehhehe
Dems take the HOUSE>>>
1/2 way to accountability
Congratulations and good luck.
I’m now anxiously watching the many social issues that are on state wide ballots. It seems that these are going to lean overwhelmingly right, which is interesting considering the way the House and Senate races have gone.Unlike all of us on here, it would seem the majority of American’s don’t know what the heck they want.Seriously, how do you vote to ban gay marriage but elect a Democrat to Congress or Senate.
But in closing congratulations to all of the Dems. I hope that the changes you are expecting do make the country better and safer.
Mr Kia – maybe the Democrats and the Independent banded together to get the Republicans with all their hypocrit morals and their abuse of power out of power once and for all.
Did you ever think that the Repubs did this to themselves by letting Religious Wackos hijack their party?
I guess that will remain to be seen in the future Mary.
Why does Kia assume that a Democrat cannot be against gay marriage? Again – you Repubs are stereotyping which works so well for Rush, Hannity, Coulter and O’Reilly.
The country is fed up with the total control of the Republicans for the last 6 years. What did you Repubs do with your power? Your ethics stink, your bribes and lobbyists scandals were atrocious, the national debt is out of sight, the Iraq War is going very badly. Just exactly what did Repubs do in the last 6 years other than to line their own pockets and preach down to everyone else?
Have you not read the Democratic party platform?It would seem that a majority of people cast a vote for change and that is fine. It your right as an American.I don’t know if when a state votes 85% for a constitutional ammendment banning gay marriage but elects a Democrat over a Republican by 51/48 that people totally understand what they are getting.Time will tell.But really good luck. I think most of us here are pro-America, we just don’t agree on what that is. Kind of like brothers and sisters fighting. We can fight all we want, but if someone from outside messes with us, look out.
I wonder if KIA would be so generous if his party hadnt gotten such an ass kickin’?
If the tables were turned, gentle readers, how do you think HE would be acting?
And where oh where are pauli, sollie, hankie and nathan? NoJoCo just weighed in long enough to let us know HIS number one issue, keeping the queers from the rights and benefits of marriage, is still a long ways away.
The country is in the shitter and NOJOKE reminds us that even as the nation falls down around our ears, osama is livin’ large, and americans in iraq die every day…
…all is well in his world because the queers still cant be married.
Jesus wept.
Kudos Rage, for living in the only state ever to reject a hate amendment.
How does it feel dude?
Almost as good as seeing bonbon’s ass get hit by the door on the way out?