If President Obama decided to visit Wichita, his late mother’s birthplace, to highlight its aviation job losses as part of his year-ending focus on employment, he’d be entering increasingly hostile territory, according to the latest SurveyUSA poll. Last week’s survey, co-sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12, found Obama’s approval among Kansans at a new low of 38 percent, compared with 62 percent when he took office.
A Department of Agriculture survey released last week showed that 17 million American households (14.6 percent) were “food insecure” at some point in 2008. That’s up from 13 million households (11.1 percent) in 2007. What’s even more troubling is that among households with children, the percentage that were food insecure was 21 percent. Being “food insecure” refers to reduced or disrupted food supplies due to a lack of money or other resources. Given the sharp increase in unemployment this year, the number of households facing food insecurity likely has continued to increase — which is why it is important to increase support, if possible, for such charities as the Kansas Food Bank and the Lord’s Diner.
Many governors would get blasted for slashing the state budget. Gov. Mark Parkinson is drawing praise, from The Eagle editorial board and others. “I’m proud of him for what he’s doing,” said state Rep. Bob Bethell, R-Alden, adding, “these are things that needed to be done and needed to be done now.” “That shows more leadership than we’ve seen from the governor’s office in many, many years,” said state Rep. Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls. Parkinson shows no signs of changing his mind about running for his job outright next year. But the Topeka Capital-Journal editorialized that Parkinson suggested “he’s worthy of a four-year term” by standing up to the threat of a schools lawsuit. The editorial concluded: “His leadership on the matter has been even-handed, much like when he broke the stalemate earlier this year on the Sunflower power plant expansion project. Parkinson has only been in office since last spring, but he continues to create a memorable legacy.”
“I’ve started reading it, but it’s going to take a while.” — Sen. Sam Brownback (in photo), R-Kan., placing his hand on the Senate’s 2,000-page health reform bill at an Olathe town hall meeting
“If you’re the least bit politically active, and the party doesn’t have the governor’s job, you realize the effect it has in every department in the state. I think we’re all ready to have a Republican governor.” — Former state GOP chairman and state Treasurer Tim Shallenburger, who lost the 2002 governor’s race to Kathleen Sebelius
“My sense is that there is not a lot of enthusiasm, especially among moderate Republicans, for a Brownback governorship.” — Kansas Democratic Party chairman Larry Gates
“He’s got a name identification o f zero.” — University of Kansas political scientist Burdett Loomis, on the gubernatorial prospects of Democratic candidate Tom Wiggans, a former pharmaceutical company executive who returned to Kansas from California early this year
