There was an interesting op-ed suggesting that the Kansas Republican party has serious leadership issues and that mods made big gains in Tuesday's primary. I don't necessarily agree with the accuracy of some of these claims, but it was interesting. However, I do believe that Sebelius' 2 terms as governor as well as Moore and Boyda holding 1/2 of the Kansas congressional delegation is a testament to the fact that our party need to get its act together.
I'm also frustrated with leaders in the KTRM for their KKK connection press release that came out days before the primary- drawing an absurd line of culpability that, if applied to every elected official, would make everyone guilty of being associated with looney toons. This wasn't necessary for Kline's victory and it leaves a miserable taste in all our mouths moving forward into the general.
Lastly, I'm disappointed with how all this nonsense has affected our ability to raise money. With Republicans having a 2:1 advantage in the state, you would expect our party to at least maintain fundraising parity with our Democratic opponents. But that isn't the case. Over the past 6 reporting periods, the Kansas Democrats have raised $3 million to our $600,000. As much as I would like to blame this on the "environment," as a conservative I believe in accountability, and that falls on Kris Kobach. Please let me know if you thing I'm off base.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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Right on! Actually, the best thing to have happened Tuesday evening may have been the tie among the precinct races in JoCo. Neither side has a significant advantage and now we must learn to work together. Enough with using the party to bash one another. It's time the party get with it and start bashing the Dems. Those who refuse to deal with the reality we now face need to be shown the door. If you're one issue, or if you're in this for some kind of self gratification, or for profit, go pursue your passion elsewhere. Your use of the party to achieve your personal satisfaction is destroying our state. The Dems are getting away with political murder - taxes are shooting up, regulation is growing exponentially, jobs are leaving KS, and while we eat our own we have lost the veto proof majority needed to keep the Governor and her socialists in check. We all know there is a better way. And, don't give us the song and dance about standing on principle. That's noble until the reality is that a leftist democrat intent on destroying your way of life becomes the inevitable victor because Republicans can't get their house in order. Like Reagan said, give me 80%. That applies to everyone (are you listening Tim Huelskamp/Mary Kay Culp/ Steve Morris / Ryan Wright?). Let's get with the program and win some elections!
I don't like the fact that our governor keeps vetoing common sense abortion regulation.
If we had a republican governor, this wouldn't be a problem. However, we shit allover ourselves, so we have Sebelius. Right on.
NO leaders within our party have stepped up to try and stop this constant inter-party bickering. Where's Brownback or Roberts? Moran or Tiahrt? Thornburgh? Jenkins?
We need our leaders to stand up and tell the Republican leaders in Topeka to stop this conserv/mod mindset, get over themselves, and get to work.
And yes, Kobach also shares some blame...no doubt about that.
Republicans HAVE to pull it together and now!
While it would be great if we were one big happy family, the very nature of politics will not let that happen.
This is also a competitive arena, and that will bring out the best and worst of everyone. Wishing otherwise won't change it.
Would I like a political system where a thoughtful discussion of issues is devoid of personal attacks? You bet. Does that happen? Not for any extended period of time.
People are people. Some are even real jerks. You don't have to pass an IQ or personality test to get into politics. Just register to vote or pay the filing fee to run for office.
Any jackass can run for office, and ofent does.
“Wild Bill”, you are absolutely right! Kobach wanted the job so badly and complained endlessly about previous party leaders; however he has failed to do any better. I agree that it is time to unify as party and realize that we are essentially like-minded in conservative thought. Has anyone thought to turn to some of the conservative (but non-partisan) non-profits for help? Some in our state have a lot of valuable resources that can be used to overcome the liberal agenda that is slowly beginning to take over in the name of progressivism.
Post is right on. Leadership is the key. Roberts, Brownback, Moran and Tihart don't want to stick their noses in state party matters and Kobach has been a disaster; he's not really engaged. He teaches, runs around the country on his immigration crusade and is trying to position himself for a post if Romney gets VP. We need someone who can work with mods and conservatives and can raise money. Pompeo would have been a far superior choice and may still be; he seems to bridge the gap. The Johnson County precinct races may be key; mods wiped out 75-80 position lead by conservatives and actually have a 3-4 vote lead but neither side really has enough to risk an all or nothing caucus in November. They both need to work on a compromise slate and if they can, it would be the start of a more unified party. Both sides need to sit on their more radical and combative factions and put something together. I'm hopeful but not completely optimistic.
IF KOBACH WERE TO SPEND 1/4 OF THE TIME THAT HE SPENDS WRITING PRO-BONO IMMIGRATION BRIEFS FOR OTHER STATES ON ACTUALLY RAISING MONEY FOR THE OUR STATE PARTY, WE WOULD HAVE $3 MILLION.
$600,000- ARE YOU SERIOUS? KOBACH IS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO KANSAS REPUBLICANS.
Is there anyone in Kansas politics that actually approves of Kobach's leadership?
And I'm not talking about Democrats.
What non-profits? The Red Cross?
That's interesting logic: I believe in accountability so I'll blame somebody else.
We're all responsible. More often than not it comes down to individual candidates, and their worth - how hard they work to win and the quality of their message. We all need to look at ourselves and evaluate what's happening - it's not that tough to figure out. If we don't stop trying to run each other out of our own party, the Democrats will continue to raise staggering amounts of money because they look sensible by comparison.
anon 1:44- you are very naive to think that Kobach isn't to blame here. He runs around America on these anti illegal-immigration journeys that don't have anything to do with our party.
While I agree with a lot of his work, it is detracting from his responsibilities as party chair. He promised so much but has delivered nothing but an empty bank account and continued infighting among Republicans.
Kobach is by no means exclusively to blame for our problems, but he has NOT been part of the solution. That's just a fact.
anonymous at 9:40- your priorities are out of whack. That is why there is infighting etc. The social stuff isn't going to get us money and isn't going to grow our party. We need a strong fiscal policy and we need a strong education policy. Focusing on those two issues will strengthen our party nationally, as well as in the state. Furthermore, it will help fundraising in JoCo.
Mod leadership is not in favor of strong fiscal policy, except Derrick Schmidt, maybe. That is a problem.
Mod leadership not in favor of strong fiscal policy? That's exactly the kind of idiotic rhetoric that drives the splits in the party. The AFP, Club For Growth, etc. keep calling anyone that doesn't follow their agendas liberal. No such thing. Fiscal conservatives and most mods are actually pretty close - disagreements of course but resovleable if the 3rd parties would stay out of the way.
Moderates are often on the side of sound fiscal policy, as are conservatives.
We should not confuse responsible money management with reckless ideology - "cut taxes no matter what."
Dave Wysong was one of the folks pushing for fiscal sanity this past session and he was shouted down by his own caucus. And, ironically, conservative stalwart Karin Brownlee is pushing hard for the next JOCO sales tax increase. So, can we stop making senseless generalizations now?
David Wysong:
Stop posting. You allowed government to increase by 50% in four years. Pretending to be a conservative in 2008 doesn't make you a conservative.
Yeah, right -- it's Kobach's fault that Stephanie Sharp's favorite Republican Steve Cloud asked people to give to the left-wing idealogues at KTRM and NOT to the state party?
That's Kobach's fault, sure.
As soon as Andy Wollen, Ryan Wright, and the rest of the 1% of the party joins Mark Parkinson, the state party will move along more smoothly.
Has Steve Morris sent a check to Steve Abrams and Jim Zeller yet? Oh, wait, Morris doesn't want Republicans to win.
Moderates, especially in the Senate, have led the efforts to pass the large budgets.
It has been conservatives, primarily Kasha Kelley and Lance Kinzer that have led the effort for reduced spending growth.
The moderates in the Kansas legislature have very, very little room to say they are for any kind of fiscal restraint. I am heppy to listen if someone can provide an example more than Wysong's one amendment in fourt years.
Wysong led the effort for a 7.5% income tax increase just a few years ago. Oh, Brungardt voted for that too.
"The AFP, Club For Growth, etc. keep calling anyone that doesn't follow their agendas liberal."
Proof?
The Party is becoming irrelevant. Candidates rely more on lobbyists or other organizations for campaign money. Candidates don't need to party to get their message out.
Groups like KRA and KTRM will do more recruiting.
Voters will continue to identify with one or the other party, but even that COULD change. Note the growing number of unaffiliated voters.
Arguing about Kobach's effectiveness is somewhat academic. If the party means less and less every cycle, I'm not going to put alot of effort into worrying about the effectiveness of the Chair.
Candidates don't need to party to get their message out!!!
A Fruedian slip? Maybe. What I meant was they don't need THE party to get their message out.
Mods do not have an advantage at the JoCo level. Not sure who is doing the counting but conservatives still hold a majority.
wouldnt it just be fantastic if the KRA and KTRM just fucked off?
Mods and fiscal conservatives in Topeka do work reasonably well together. The comments from some on this blog show the problem; a small but vocal number of extreme conservatives rant and rave about liberals and purging the party. I do think there is a chance that rational minds on both sides may have decided they must work together and marginiliza the ranters. Oh, and as to Johnson County, both sides agree that it's a dead heat. Tim Golba acknowledged in Star article that mods won the majority of the contested races. Mods did make up the 75-80 vote difference and a deal is very likely over the next month or so.
If mods and conservatives are working together on fiscal issue, they are doing an overall poor job.
The state is looking at a $160MM hole b/c of over spending. 9% budget increases will do that to you.
And conservatives have driven huge tax breaks for businesses without any evidence of whether they have been successful or not. Including this year's $87M windfall resulting from the federal stimulus package. So you can argue either way but without many of these giveaways our budget would be in far better shape. Conservatives in the House, under conservative leadership, have the appropriations chair, etc. and I sure haven't seen any of them leading the budget decrease battle. All I ever hear is that mods and Dems are budget busting and the poor conservatives can't stop them. Well, get over it because the conservatives are not going to run the senate or have override votes for several years so I guess they will actually have to get to work and legislate instead of just complaining.
Oh yeah, and conservative Republicans ran the White House, Senate and House in DC for years and they sure did a great job with spending. All talk; no action.
Actually, the count in JoCo leaves the mods still 40 votes shy. conservatives would be foolish to compromise with the mods again. Run your slates and let who wins win -- these compromise slates accomplish nothing.
Don't know where you get your info, but the actual count is about 333 precinct people each. Not that difficult to determine if you know who filed as what and I have very good info on who did.
We've discussed the $87 million figure and refuted it already. That figure comes from a socialist left group. Go ahead an advocate decoupling Kansas from the Federal tax code which would cause a tax increase. What a stupid argument.
The tax breaks have been small and we still have a higher tax rates than almost all of our region. We need larger tax cuts.
The problem is overspending PERIOD. And the House is just as guilty as the Senate.
Just a few years ago, there was $900 million in ending balances and next year we are looking at a $160MM defecit. So the legislature has overspent receipts by almost a billion dollars.
There isn't a revenue problem.
And meanwhile, our Kansas economy slugs along in the middle to bottom 1/2 of states. Great management! How do some of you posters defend this?
The so-called refute on the $87M came exclusively from Cobb and AFP. Everyone in Topeka agreed on the number and business never asked for it but no one had the political courage, in an election year, to do anything about it. You actually have to study and think sometimes not just blindly follow KTA, ATP, KLEAR, etc. talking points.
The Governor and her allies are the only ones that ageed upon the $87MM.
AFP, The Chamber, NFIB et al disagreed as did KU Economist Art Hall and House Tax Chairman Art Hall.
But we have two things. First the $87MM figure is bogus. Second, for argument's sake, let's say it is accurate. So what? The legislature overspent. And to decopule would effectively be a tax increase on Kansas' business which would put them at a competive disadvantage.
Stupid idea! But no wonder Umbarger and others thought we should do it.
FWIW, there was never a vote on either floor to decouple, so apparently the legislature as a whole agreed it was stupid.
Proved the point. Every source cited is right wing ideologue. Chamber is funded and controlled by Koch Industries in case you don't know.
Any Republican who would begrudge Kansas businesses any tax breaks that the feds send their way is no fiscal conservative, let alone realist. If you want to cry over not confiscating lots more money from our beleaguered private sector, go hang around with Joan Wagnon.
Do Cox, Embarq, Sprint, Goodyear, Payless, Blue Cross, Garmin, Boeing, Cessna, Leajet and Coleman
all know that Koch controls the State Chamber?
What weak support for the notion that noo ne oppossed decopuling from the Federal tax code.
House Tax Chair Kenny Wilk was very, very vocal in opposing the decoupling and he was very vocal that the $87 million figure was bogus.
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