Kansas - Article I thought U Guys Might Enjoy From Daily Kos

[Jon8503]

by mcjoan
Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 08:19:33 PM PDT
Maybe we are going to see a wave in November. Maybe even a tsumani. My friend Kate in Oneonta pointed me to this post which points to this editorial by Steve Rose in the Johnson County Sun in Overland Park, Kansas.


As we prepare ourselves to make political endorsements in subsequent issues, I can tell you unequivocally that this newspaper has never endorsed so many Democrats. Not even close.

In the 56 years we have been publishing in Johnson County, this basically has been a Republican newspaper. In the old days, before the Republican civil war that fractured the party, we were traditional Republicans....

The point is, I can name on two hands over a half century the number of Democrats we have endorsed for public office.

This year, we will do something different. You will read why we are endorsing Kathleen Sebelius for governor and Mark Parkinson for lieutenant governor; Dennis Moore to be re-elected to the U.S. Congress; Paul Morrison for Kansas attorney general; and a slew of local Democratic state legislative candidates. These are not liberal Democrats. They are what fairly can be described as conservative Democrats, and we can prove that in our forthcoming endorsements.

But I could not help but put in perspective a more global phenomenon that has led us to re-evaluate our traditional support for Republicans....

The Republican Party has changed, and it has changed monumentally.

You almost cannot be a victorious traditional Republican candidate with mainstream values in Johnson County or in Kansas anymore, because these candidates never get on the ballot in the general election. They lose in low turnout primaries, where the far right shows up to vote in disproportionate numbers.

To win a Republican primary, the candidate must move to the right.

What does to-the-right mean?

It means anti-public education, though claiming to support it.

It means weak support of our universities, while praising them.

It means anti-stem cell research.

It means ridiculing global warming.

It means gay bashing. Not so much gay marriage, but just bashing gays.

It means immigrant bashing. I'm talking about the viciousness.

It means putting religion in public schools. Not just prayer.

It means mocking evolution and claiming it is not science.

It means denigrating even abstinence-based sex education....

But everything else adds up to priorities that have nothing to do with the Republican Party I once knew.

http://www.dailykos.com/

[Mabus]

1. Thank you.

I printed it out and I am taking it to the semi-regular, unofficial KC area DU meetup tonight. What a great find.

If you're in the area, we're meeting at the Westport Flea Market in KCMO (817 Westport Rd. in about 45 minutes. I'm taking at least one other DU'er with me.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. As a (mostly) lifelong Johnson County resident,

I can testify that this is 100% true. Steve Rose's dad founded this little local paper and they have shown a republican bias for as long as I can remember. I stopped reading it a long time ago because it is so biased.

Steve Rose is also a republican, but a moderate. Yes, they are seeing the light and realizing their party has been hijacked by conservatives.

Our US congressman is a Democrat. He was elected because the republicans continue to put up right wing conservatives against him. One of them is now in prison for fraud and another was exposed as a racist. The guy running against our congressman this time is a right wing West Point grad who supports the Iraq war and all the other far right positions and he doesn't have a remote chance of winning.

And this is KANSAS, ladies and gentleman. Bob Dole country. The state that has not voted for a republican for president in at least 60 - 70 years. I am not even sure if KS voted for Roosevelt in the 1930s. It is a bastion of republicanism. And the people here are waking up.

For the first time in my life, I can say I am excited about being a Democrat in Johnson County, Kansas.

You ought to post this in GD. Share the good news. If KS can turn Democrat, any state can. :)

[Jon8503]

3. Yeah, it got posted over there. In fact it went up on the greatest page

I myself was excited about the article when I saw it on Kos. Being next door to Overland Park I am hoping KS & MO will both make a good change.

Its certainly a step in the right direction & you know better than me but I was thinking Rose is pretty well respected in the area, both MO & KS so his comments should carry some weight.

Anyway, trying to not get my hopes up too much but certainly feeling better about things & just got back from the movie "Man of the Year" Robin Williams, great as always & he always gets you feeling good about things, lot of laughter.

[beyurslf]

4. KS voted for Johnson in 1964 (54% of the vote) and for FDR twice

in 1932 and 1936. FDR lost badly in KS the next 2 elections though, with his opponent getting 60% in 1944. The only other Dem since 1900 was Wilson and KS voted for him in both elections.

<http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/>


Look down at Lincoln's numbers. He got almost 80% of our vote. Nixon is second with nearly 70%.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Thanks for the research!

So Johnson got us in 1964. I hadn't remembered that. Kennedy only got 39%. Interesting.

[Neecy]

6. love it...

I think Kansas is one of the most interesting stories in this election. Republicans are deserting the sinking ship in droves and I think it's the first sign that the far right-wing is starting to lose their grip on the GOP.

I actually have a Morrison lawn sign. Never, never, never did I ever imagine I'd support someone who six months ago was a Republican, but he's so much better than the alternative I gladly put up the sign. What's happening here is amazing, it really is.