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Consider that this state has a very loud contingient of Christian Conservatism, as well as the NeoCons of the PNAC mindset. But most Kansas Republcans are that because the think Missourians are all Democrats. They are actually 4 angstrom units to the left of the average Missouri Democrat, but don't let them know that.
But with more miles of roadway percapita than just about anywhere, cheap oil is not just a need, but a sacred right. So the local mindset on Iraq is not quite sane. Many here opposed the war, but are praying for cheap oil. Sadly, I suspect that they will be so wrong that Kansas starts pumping oil again.
There is a schizophrenia, a disconnect between the repbs who want creationism taught exclusively in school, public flogging of homosexuals, and the US not just out of the UN, but on another planet entirely-- and the repubs who are making a killing off of NAFTA, and other forms of cheap labor like around Fort Riley/Junction City.
Gone are the repubs of Wichita, the moderates of the private airplane industry. They have been punished for cooperating with labor in the 80's.
They are in dispair.
Wyandotte county is very Democrat, and pretty progressive, in an insular sort of way. Kansas City Kansas has a large, poor population, comprised of a large number of ethnic communities. I frequently eat at a Bosnian restaurant.
It is also by turns of the river, rural and industrial. In the same room, they speak in tongues. The county seat even looks a bit like the tower of Babel.
Lawrence is urbane, a prairie college town, home of K.U..
Democratic, and hip. Last home and refuge of William Burroughs.
It might serve as an interesting side note to point out that the other major university is Kansas State at Manhattan, and that the rivalry is more than academic... K.U. is called 'Gay U' by Aggies, and Manhattan, is referred to as K-Straight by K.U..
Once, I was in an operating room with a group of three former K.U. students, and one K.State student. They moo'd at him when he left the room, referring to KState's renowned Vet. college.
Manhattan, BTW, contains Aggieville, one of the world's most densely packed bar zones. On a saturday night, one in three drivers is legally intoxicated in aggieville. Solidly Republican town, I nearly died there. Great town to ride a bike in...not!
West of Hays, people go crazy from too much sun. They are of course, republican, from little towns where you can see a mummified local, a thirty foot prairie dog, or the world's largest ball of twine.
The state needs some serious attention paid to agriculture, industrial development, transportation, education and the budget.
Democrats won because they were common sensical and not pursing policy agendas that were embarassing to all but a small number of fellow whackjobs, like the Kansas goodwill ambassador, Fred Phelps. Our Gove won promising to bite the bullet, but also to save education.
There are issues the Dems can jump out in front on in a state where the republicans are either venal, foaming at the mouth, or both.
Jobs... oh momma, they need to talk about creating jobs. We need a lot of work out there. Well paid labor, doing badly needed repair.
We also have our little business scandal going on right now, starring a Texas senator of the Republican pursuasion and gasp-- an energy company.
Transportation --
The expanse of highways in Kansas and Missouri are going to be virtually unmaintainable with the cost shifting that is going on from the federal level to the state. And I mean that at todays traffic levels, not what Bush has in mind. Next comes the really big rigs in from Mexico, driven by drivers from another set of traffic rules. These babies will be tearing up the road, and letting the soccer mom's SUB jolt down the interstate full of bouncing kids. Tough luck... the Dems could own this...
We are going to have to rebuild the middle class in America. And nowhere would this do more than rebuilding rural and small city economy. Ironically, fewer miles of city roadways would leave us with more money for rural, farm to market highways, and long haul interstates. I get a pretty odd reaction when I tell Johnson countians what Kucinich's economic policies are... the middle class ones like them, and it makes them feel a bit odd. A surprizing number of them have never heard of him, and would probably accept it at face value if I called him a moderate Republican.
The whole region needs to negotiate a policy of cooperation to save AMTRAK and maybe even expand it to cover transportation among the region's class B cities. Kansas could do it, they have a small independent group of rail lines that took over when the big rails shut down. It is not a great leap of faith to think that passenger rail would be if not profitable on its own, but cheap to subsidize (say compared to running a regional airport, or maintaining more truck and bus traffic. ) Dems could jump on that.
Since the states are going to have to foot more of their own, they should do it efficiently, and insist on efficient transportation.
This area of the country had rail all over in the early 1900's, and the best were publicly funded. The economics would work again. We need an efficient to run, cost effective system, and rail is it. Air is important, but scaled too large currently to serve anything but the metropolis. All we need is for the city transit systems to agree to shuttle each other's passengers around as part of a all day pass.
You only need a couple of passenger cars and a baggage car for local freight. Most of these cities have railway stations left over somewhere.
We need policies that encourage a shift from ever expanding suburbia to both urban and small town life, even if work is in the city. The subdivision, decaying mall, new big box retail, 8 lane highway, drive through 'restaurant' lifestyle is a death trip, we actually know this for a fact. And like Kansas Creationism, we also know that our adminstration is making policy with junk science to take it to the next level of centralization and concentration of wealth... we even know this in Kansas, where half of us are pissed and defensive about it.
Democrats could really pitch this, and it would be like the WPA in the thirties. Even bid as much local source labor as possible.
Dennis Moore's neighbors are among the richest in America, per capita.
They are well educated for the most part, and they like to think of themselves as conservatives, but they are not. They just dont like the idea of Democrats and 'BIG SPENDING' Of course, they don't like BIG DEFICIT, either.
But even these tend to agree when I say that if we are running deficts, we ought to be rebuilding to handle a new economic cycle.
Except for the ones with the unholy light in their eyes, they just do what the angelic voices tell them. I tell them that Dennis is the new Messiah, and try to say it with 'that voice'.
So in Johnson county if you allow them to keep calling themselves moderate Republicans, they will keep voting for a moderate Democrat who continues to spend for the things they love. Also they seem to love him for not embarrasing them.
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