The tide is turning in Kansas [View All]

[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.