The upcoming elections are nonpartisan. Yet the Sedgwick County Republican Party sent out a mailing this week urging citizens to “vote Republican April 3rd.” It listed the GOP candidates for Wichita mayor, Wichita City Council and Wichita school board. In the District 5 City Council race, it said that both candidates are Republicans and encouraged voters “to support the candidate of your choice.” Gee, thanks.
Don Younglund is one Wichitan who received the mailing and didn’t appreciate the injection of partisan politics into city and school elections. “I am totally livid,” he said.
With good reason.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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
- Pleefer on Open thread 11/22
- cosmos_originally on Open thread 11/22
- Phantom on Open thread 11/22
- Phantom on Open thread 11/22
- Rage on Open thread 11/22
- Pleefer on Open thread 11/22
- Pleefer on Open thread 11/22
- cosmos_originally on Open thread 11/22
- Rage on Open thread 11/22
- Rage on Open thread 11/22
31 Comments
Wow, a survey of one Wichita Citizen. :)
Besides it’s free speech.
Maybe they should have hired one of the leftist bloggers to hand out a bumper sticker that said, “Bong Hits for Jesus” instead.
I completely agree with Republican: it’s free speech. They can send out a mailing exhorting everyone to vote in favor of making push-pins a part of casino gaming if that’s what they want to do. (And they might.)
What a bummer, though, for Republicans if they had to get lumped into the same category with Mayans. Not exactly a harmonious advertisement for the embattled GOP.
I guess it’s another way of saying that this is the big tent party. Watch for various candidates to stake out the far reaches of the canvas. Oh, wait: they already have.
Did anyone check with Huelskamp on this? Maybe they need a new rule where party operatives have to show I.D. and birth certificate prior to drafting ill-advised mailings.
Non-partisan elections mean no political party designations are shown on the ballot … nothing more.
That said, in many jurisdictions, non-partisan political groups do arise, with names such as Citizens for Progress, County Improvement Committee, Good Government League, etc. The purpose is to separate local politics from state and national politics.
Reflects the old often stated idea, “there’s no Republican or Democratic way to patch a pothole in the street.”
“All politics are local”. That would include political parties, wouldn’t it?
Mr. Younglund needs to get real. His, and Phillip’s, expectations are not based in reality.
BREAKING NEWS:
“Fleettwood is one Wichitan who received the mailing and appreciated the injection of partisan politics into city and school elections. “I am totally for it,” he said.”
I agree it is free speech but I wonder if it might backlash. Here I am really considering voting for people they are reminding me are Republicans. If I were a die-hard Democrat would that then make me vote the other way?
Two candidates I look at – Mayans and Bishop – are opposite parties but are also both “outside” the entrenched system. In many ways I support them both (except I am not in Bishop’s district)
The Republicans now make *every* issue a partisan issue. It’s all part of the politics of division game they want to play. The more extremist the Republican, the more divisive they are. Why do you think so many non-extremist, *sane* Republicans are leaving the party?
BREAKING NEWS:
“Tom is one Wichitan who received the mailing and didn’t understand it or much of anything else. “I am totally wasted,” he said.”—–
I agree with everybody else. It’s free speech.
But it is also no secret what party affiliation the candidates are, even though they are technically independents.
Asstampon, instead of making up “quotes” I didn’t say, why don’t you address the substance of my comments in an intelligent and thoughtful way?
Oh wait…
Nevermind.
Tom I agree with you, but there is another side to that coin. Replace “republican” with “democrat” and the statement will still hold true.
Of course Tom, it’s just the Republicans….
Here’s an interesting comment from the SG County Democrat website, followed by a list of ‘D’ Candidates:
“The city and municipal elections in early 2007 will be the next opportunity to elect a wave of Democrats. These elections are non-partisan, which means no party affiliation will be listed on the ballot. However, it is not uncommon for partisans from both parties to be involved in these contests.”
http://www.sedgwickcountydemocrats.com/2007_elections.htm
.
Joe and Trnd, my quibble isn’t with the mailer. I saw it, and thought it was pretty silly. If you read my post, you’ll see I didn’t even mention the mailer. My complaint was, and is, the scorched-earth politics the extremist wing of the Republican Party currently practices.
How many former Democrats ran for statewide office as Republicans last year, and won their races?
Wow. I was going to post the same link. Perhaps the Eagle would let us train it’s Ed people to do research. Novel concept.
Phillip acts as if this is new to him. Both parties have always been involved in these so called non partisan races. How disingenuous of Phillip to act surprised and to be disappointed.
It goes to show you just how far out of touch he has become and his ability to ignore facts. Perhaps he needs to go back to some real reporting and get out more.
Just another reason thinking people are getting their serious news from somewhere other than the daily newspaper. How low do their revenues have to fall before they realize people want news unbiased and left to our own interpretation?
This was on the editorial side but unfortunately it is to representative of the news they present.
The Republican Party has a Constitutional Right to support any candidate it wants to support in ANY election.The RIGHT of the Party to do what ever it wants in this matter has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
Paul – I don’t think anyone questions that. My observation is that, at least for Mayans, this could backfire. Much of his support comes from both sides of the political ‘aisle’; does such a mailing drive away potential voters?
Just speculating …
Ben I would agree with you if only voters actually did research and find the best candidates for the job to be filled. Most voters just remember the last name they looked at or know they are democrat or republican.
I don’t agree with this type of campaigning but understand the rationale behind it. We aren’t dealing with an informed voter pool. Because the voters that contribute to this blog on a regular basis know what is behind a candidate doesn’t mean that the average voter does.
I don’t like it but feel that it is true.
I’m guessing that the Republican Party sent the mailing only to registered Republicans so as not to remind a Democrat who to vote against.
If so, then they thought it through and made a choice that may work well for them.
It’s free speech. A non-partisan election just means that the candidates don’t run based on party affiliation, not that parties can’t be involved.
ksgrm – you are probably correct. I have sought to learn about the individuals involved; I have personally met most of them. They are all much more than just whatever party label they wear.
Non-partisan election is an oxymoron.
Next thing they will be forming a non-partisan editorial board or a non-partisan political cartoonist.
…or some partisan cheese on your pasta…
Hey I think I have gotten one of them, but I am not sure.I think I threw it away without really looking at it.Is there anyway that we can get people together to put pressure on the government to ban junk mail?I get tire of getting all the advertising, buy this, two for one, credit card offers and congratulation, you are the winner of…etc.I am sure that we could save a lot trees if we did not have so much junk mail and please do not tell me to go see the treehuggers, they are scary too.
“…a non-partisan political cartoonist.”
I still waiting for a sappy cartoon about Tony Snow’s cancer like the one for Mrs. Edwards.I guess we’ll have to cross Hell or High Water to get that one.
Wiseman, government ban on junk mail = First Amendment issue (and very possible violation).
One way to cut down on the credit card aps you receive it to do what I did. After my purse was stolen I had a fraud alert put on my credit report. Now someone has to have my permission to look at my credit. My mailings dropped almost to nothing from 3 to 4 each day. If they can’t determine you have good credit they don’t want to send you those pre-approved apps.
I just look at the postage stamp; if it’s full-priced First Class, I’ll usually open it. If it’s standard or bulk – I’ll rip it in half and put it in the paper box that I use for starting my barrel fire.
VT, maybe we can get around that and classify it as a threat to national security (sarcasms), there is a fine line between abuse and rights.But seriously, you are right, the Constitution and the amendments are rules for the people to serve as protection against a wrongful government.You do have to wonder if First Amendment rights are for the people to use against government or against the people.The last that I recall the US postal service is government.
Ksgrm, Thank You for your advice, I will look into that.
I didn’t get one, and hope they don’t send it to me. Waste of perfectly good trees! I for one would love to see all political mailings banned on environmental grounds.
ksgrm,My wife died almost 18 years ago, and she still gets 2 or 3 pre-approved credit card applications a week. Know of any really good spirit medium whose testimony would stand up in court? Would help if he’s a Druid- they can carry debts over into the afterlife.
Oh my God, he said postal.