The tide is turning in Kansas

[Mabus]

proud2Blib posted an article in the Kansas forum that is a must read for those who think there's no hope for Kansas. The opening sentence of the article that proud links to says it all:

The Johnson County Republican chairman has demanded that Mark Parkinson resign as a GOP precinct committeeman because of his support for a Democrat for Kansas attorney general.

This is big. Our current AG, Phill "Double L" Kline, is a Christian fundamentalist who has used his position as Kansas Attorney General to request the "medical records of women and girls who received abortions" in Kansas. Seems Phill was using his time as AG to launch a secret investigation into who was recieving abortions in Kansas. It only came to light when the affected clinics took him to court. The ruling on this case was handed down earlier this month. "The Kansas Supreme Court ordered a lower court judge to first make sure that Attorney General Phill Kline has the right to see the documents in his investigation of potential violations of state restrictions on abortion and suspected rapes of children." The fall-out from Phill continued pandering to the fundies? The Johnson County District Attorney has switched parties and is running as the Democratic candidate for this office. Why? Because the fundies have overreached and the moderate GOP'ers have had enough of the loonies in their party. As a result they are defecting in increasing numbers to the Democratic party in Kansas.

This is more evidence that the tide is turning in Kansas - the state in the middle of a sea of red states - is gaining Democratic converts. Kansas Republicans are giving up and abandoning their party but it isn't the first time. Moderate Republican defection in 2002 gave us our current Democratic governor Kathleen Sebelius.

Kathleen Sebelius (born May 15, 1948, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American politician who is the current governor of Kansas. A Democrat, she became Kansas' 44th governor in 2003 after defeating Republican Tim Shallenburger in the election of 2002 by a vote of 53%-45%. Sebelius's victory was the result of a bitter divide between conservatives and moderates within the Kansas Republican Party. This divide is touched upon in Thomas Frank's bestseller What's the Matter with Kansas?.

-source wiki

Republicans are beginning to see the light and aren't just defecting but doing it publicly. Again, this trend started in 2002 with a number of "Republicans for Sebelius" websites that sprung up around Kansas. Let's hope this trend of abandoning the fundies continues into other elections. Let's hope this trend continues and helps us change some congressional seats in favor of Democrats. At the very least maybe more of the Kansas GOP'ers will start looking at what Brownback and Roberts (aren't) doing as our senators. I really think some of them have had enough.

Please visit proud's thread in the Kansas forum and recommend it for the Greatest Page. News of GOP'ers giving up and giving in should be on the Greatest Page.

[cali]

1. Excellent. It's always good to hear news like this n/t

[tridim]

2. Good news, but..

I think my parents are fairly typical in JC. They hate the fundamentalist Repukes, but they still adore Bush. It drives me nuts.

[Mabus]

4. That's where I get confused - JoCo GOP'ers

I've met a number of them at the most unlikely places like MoveOn events. The ones I've met say they are registered Republican but vote Democratic. I know I've only met a limited number of them but I keep thinking there have to be more and it would explain why Dennis Moore keeps getting elected as the only Democratic congressional person. For a number of us, these moderate JoCo GOP'ers are responsible for Moore being too moderate on many issues. He goes to the right because he knows he has to appeal to the moderate GOP'ers to stay in office.

[BlueManDude]

3. Good stuff. Dems need to hammer economic issues in Kansas n/t

[Warpy]

5. Dems need to hammer economic issues countrywide

and that means dropping the corporatists and free trade ideologues. The working class has had enough, and it's time for the party to recognize that their base is hurting and will continue to desert a party that doesn't speak for them.

[atommom]

6. That is good news. At the very least, maybe we can get

double L Phill and some of the other extremists out of office!

[MuseRider]

7. YAY!

:hi: Mabus!

It is getting weird out here isn't it? It is like you don't get the answers you expect from people and it always makes me catch my breath.

They have also learned that we are going to fight back. The very idea that we are getting organized in so many ways is making them think twice about just ram-rodding things through.

[Mabus]

10. Ever since my fundie "Double L" Phill neighbor scraped the bumperstickers

off his trucks and cars I've been in shock. My fundie neighbor (one block over) had his vehicle bumpers' full of Double L and Bush/Cheney stickers since 1999. Over the years he has added the obligatory "support our troops" and flags to his collection. Several months ago all the bumperstickers disappeared overnight. Come to think of it, I believe they were removed after Katrina. The only thing left of his once large collection of pro-war/GOP/Phill/Bible stickers is the word "vote".

As to our fighting back, although it may not be apparent to those outside the state, we have been working our collective asses off on a multitude of fronts (thank you for all of your work) and we have been making headway. People are waking up. I know there are a number of people on DU that have given up on the MSM. I haven't because living in the midwest I know how much the MSM can influence people. This is especially true for the nightly news. It's a nice, easy to digest compendium of events that people think they should know. I think the MSM's recent coverage of the WH has been heartening. The MSM has started to ask questions and the public is beginning to follow with their own. As energy bills crept up this winter people began openly asking questions about Wittig, DeLay and our trio of Republican Congressmen. As more information is being reported people are also wondering what's going on with Brownback and Roberts. Add to all of this the way the Democrats and the moderate Republicans have been able to hold back the wackos in our state legislature on issues like censoring professors and the classes they teach (Dailey versus Wagle and O'Reilly) to beating them back and ensuring that school districts continue requiring sex education classes. Add to all of this, the increased mistrust of the Bush Regime and I'm really beginning to think we're not fighting by ourselves anymore. Maybe I'm being too optimistic.

[MuseRider]

13. Slowly and yes they are changing.

The Kansas Senate has voted this evening to pass the "A+" comprehensive sex education bill. The bill received 27 votes (out of 40 senators), which is several more than we were expecting as recently as Tuesday. We signed on to this too (we share a lobbyist) but not officially and several other things as we are being taken seriously. Good article, thanks.

We have kept the adoption issue in committee. (for now)

The local MSM here is only marginally better but I am reading a lot of interesting LTTE's in the paper from both sides.

Honey, we need all the optimists we can get. I tend that way too with occasional dips into the abyss. I have just lived here too long. The population here has been victimized by the thugs.

Coalitions are forming and we are not few in numbers. KEC became official in October and we now have 6 chapters and a lobbyist. We are working with the ACLU, NGLTF and the HRC and marginally with other groups. The opposition is quiet right now and that is scary but also encouraging. We stopped them mid scream, at least for the moment.

Keep working. Thank you for everything you do. I love the Lawrence people I work with, it is so fun to work with people who come from an actual liberal area.

[Wilms]

8. K&R n/t

[roguevalley]

9. kansas has a historic position as a deeply progressive

state. glad to see things changing.

[Wrinkle_In_Time]

11. Kansas... Progressive... Does not compute...

Unless you don't count recent decisions of the Kansas School Board as being representative.

/Pass the parmesan.

[roguevalley]

12. check out their history and be pleasantly surprised. :)

[Mabus]

16. Let's review Kansas history

You know we work our asses off here. I'm really getting tired of the Kansas bashing. It hurts a lot more than it helps. Thanks for help doing the GOP's work for them by propagating the idea to give up on Kansas. If this type of support and encouragement we can expect from fellow DU'ers then maybe we should just pack it and give up. You see, people see the sort of drivel that that you post and give up. In the meantime, there are those of us on the ground here who have to spend time refuting this sort of shit and convince people that they can make a difference. Kansas is a progressive state. It was founded in progressive liberal values and those of us that live here are working to continue that proud tradition.


You don't think Kansas is progressive, well let's review the bidding:

Kansas entered the union as a Free State in 1861. Many historians note that the first battles of the Civil War were fought here in Kansas because we were a Free State. FYI, Free State = No Slaves. Prior to joining the union Kansas one of Kansas' leading abolitionists was John Brown (for starters, google: Pottawatomie Massacre, Quantrill's Raid and Battle of Black Jack). Did you know that the Kansas University - Missouri University sports rivalry is rooted in these events. It is perhaps the only college rivalry rooted in multiple bloody battles over the issue of slavery that exists today. You have to understand that a goodly number of Kansas towns were populated by north-easterners who came to Kansas to help stave off slavery interests. My own ancestors came from Massachusetts as part of the Massachusetts Emigration Society to found Lawrence, Kansas an oasis of liberalism in Kansas.

The University of Kansas' colors (Crimson and Blue) are tributes to the many professors from Yale and Harvard who journeyed westward to help educate future Kansans.

Kansas was the site of one of the governmental boarding schools for American Indians. Although Haskell was originally founded as a manual training school with the intent to "kill the Indian but save the child". Today it is called Haskell Indian Nations University it is a four-year fully accredited university whose student body is composed from over 300 different American Indian Nations. It is also home of the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame which recognizes the Native American athletes who attended Haskell including Olympians Jim Thorpe and Billy Mills.

Brown v. Topeka Board of Education overturned the earlier ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson and remains the landmark case for desegregation of public schools. What many people still don't know is that "Topeka middle schools had been integrated since 1941. Topeka High School was integrated from its inception in the late 1800s. The Kansas law permitting segregated schools allowed them only 'below the high school level.'" So, segregation was limited to grade schools but some brave Kansans helped open up the issue of segregation for the benefit of the entire United States.

Skip forward to the modern era and thankfully the Democratic Party believes in Kansas today. Howard Dean kicked off the Red State Tour in Kansas because he knows our history and knows that the progressive spirit that founded Kansas is alive and well. Barack Obama is coming later this week. Did you know Barack's mother was from Kansas? Did you Langston Hughes is from Kansas? Did you know that Gordon Parks is from Kansas?

Did you know that the very reason method that you use to communicate on the internet is a direct result of Kansan Lou Montulli?

Louis J. Montulli II (best known as Lou Montulli) is a programmer who is well known for his work in producing web browsers.

In 1991 he wrote a text web browser called Lynx while he was at the University of Kansas. This web browser was one of the first available and is still in use today.

In 1994 he became a founding engineer of Netscape Communications and programmed the networking code for the first versions of the Netscape web browser. He was also responsible for several browser innovations, such as HTTP cookies, the blink tag, server push and client pull, HTTP proxying, HTTP over SSL, and encouraging the implementation of animated GIFs into the browser. While at Netscape, he also was a founding member of the HTML working group at the W3C and was a contributing author of the HTML 3.2 specification.

So the next time you don't think Kansas is progressive, think again.

You know what? I'm here and I'll continue to work toward making a difference in Kansas. Muserider is here and she will continue working towards making a difference in Kansas. I think the DU'ers in Manhattan (and from around Kansas) who showed up and protested Bush when he was in their town will continute making a difference in Kansas. So, if you want to spend your time looking down your nose at my state, go ahead. It isn't going to stop us. We know our progressive liberal history and those of us with the balls to stick it out here will continue making inroads in spite of what others say.

Oh, by the way, congratulations on all the work you've done in Canada. I see you guys did a great job in the last election in ensuring that Canada remains as a bastion of progressive thought. :sarcasm:

[Wrinkle_In_Time]

20. My apologies. It was cheap shot.

I'll read your citations and reduce my ignorance.

[Mabus]

22. Sorry I was so snippy

I think people stereotype Kansans looking like Neanderthals in Pilgrim's clothing. We aren't all backward. We are a fiercely proud people. Many of us are descended from those original pioneers. My ancestors are both American Indian (I'm Cheyenne-Arapaho) and a wide range of European settlers. At one time there were more newspapers being printed in Kansas than in New York. There were Irish newspapers, German newspapers, Danish, Swedish, Polish, every community had its own paper in addition to the competing city newspapers. Anyway, working on the ground here one of the biggest hurdles that we face is convincing people to get involved. Many are still listening to the GOP tapes that "Kansas is red, give up" type of thinking. It is one of the reasons we have trouble even getting placehoder candidates on the ticket.

Sorry about that Canada crack. :blush:

:pals: ?

[Wrinkle_In_Time]

23. Thanks, but you were justified...

... I'm sorry that my crass attempt at humour made you post that response, but ironically I'm glad that you posted it. It was very informative and will hopefully avert other ignorant jabs at Kansas. It's a shame that the most some of us hear about your state are the repressive actions of a damaged Board of "Education".
Keep up the good work! :pals: !

[BlueIris]

14. YIKES. Hope, but it sounds like Kansas has a long way to go, still.

Jesus. I had no idea that the Kline insanity had gone that far. My GOD.

[kayice]

15. I live in Kansas and any hope is something to be thankful about.

I hate that damn Phil Kline. I'm against sex offenders, but that SOB has made abortions and sex offenders his ONLY PRIORITY. 'You know underage girls are having abortions from incest while their step-daddy waits in the car, but we won't investigate live births.' Asshole.

Freakin' Roberts is covering up for Bush, and Brownback is a whack-job. I wish someone would ask Brownback at Halloween what he thinks of the little kids treat or treating.

[Javaman]

17. I wonder though, is it really good to have a repuke change sides

as opposed to having a real democrat running for that same office?

I mean will he be just another DINO when he gets into office?

Although we may win the seat, do we really win the power that goes along with it???

:shrug:

[Mabus]

21. Good question Javaman

The reason we have a Democratic governor is because moderate Republicans jumped ship in 2002 when they realized their candidate was a fundamentalist wacko. We almost had a bona fide Democratic AG in 2002 but he didn't bother to campaign. Biggs lost by a very slim margin and speculation is, if he had actually ran a campaign or was able to raise money for one, he would have won.

Yeah, I'm not particularly thrilled that we have a former Republican running for the AG position. I'd much rather have a bona fide Democratic candidate but I will settle for a moderate Republican that has jumped ship because it helps lead other Republicans to reconsider where their party has gone politically. Will our party be full of DINOs? I doubt it. Here's why, the state Kansas Democratic Party has gotten help, for the first time, from the DNC. The state party has sent out canvessers to registered Democrats throughout Kansas to start lining up volunteers for this year's election. The state party is active. It is activating the base in every county. Bona fide Democrats control the precincts. Bona fide Democrats run the county offices. The Republicans can vote with us but the bona fide Democrats are the ones calling the shots.

If we can get a moderate Republican (who has probably been voting Democratic anyway) to publicly renounce his party and run as a Democrat we can get others that are also fed up with their party. The only Democratic congressman we have from Kansas depends on those moderate Republicans in Morrison's county to stay in office. Moore wouldn't be our Representative if he didn't have cross-over appeal to the Republicans in Johnson County. (Moore panders to the GOP too much IMHO.)

But the key is to keep control of our party at its roots. The DNC has been working with the state party since Dean took over. Their work has helped ensure that each of the county bases remains firmly in Democratic hands before they began encouraging Republican defections. I believe this is part of the calculated plan to retake red states like Kansas. Shore up the base then go after the moderates. As soon as the moderates start jumping on board they start having to adopt the more fiscally responsible and socially progressive programs of the Democratic party. This means those that jump will start seriously considering the benefits of what the Democratic platforms are. Don't buy into the Republican spin that Democrats don't have a plan. Our state's economy is doing pretty well and everyone knows we have a Democratic governor.

But remember the biggest thing. In the end, their party is fragmenting and ours becomes stronger. Maybe I'm just too optimistic but this is a big thing. We are making inroads. These red state Republicans have figured out that their party has lost credibility and they'd rather join the "enemy" then blindly follow.

[Scout1071]

18. The Kansas GOP just had a major party split. The moderates left.

I posted this a few months ago when it happened, but it sank like a rock.

Glad to see a positive thread about Kansas get some attention for a change.

Good work Proud.

[caligirl]

19. James Webb left the repug party, and is now running in Virginia

similar reasons.