Wednesday, December 13, 2006

 

Time for JoCo RINOs to Switch Parties

In a bizarre post-Halloween joke, the Johnson County Republican Party re-animated Phill Kline and installed him into the post vacated by Attorney General Elect Paul Morrison.

For you out-of-state readers, Zombie Klien was the man overwhelmingly rejected by the county and the state as a leader in last month's election. The now undead former Kansas AG sustained his political life with his binary view on abortion. In fact, he achieved his 15 minutes of fame on O'Reilly, when host Bill claimed to have received inside information from private abortion clinic records Kline had subpoenaed. Of course, if Kline did give the talking head information from those files, then Kline would have violated any number of laws. Kline claimed the records contained evidence of crimes. To date, no charges resulted from his fishing expedition into the private lives of Kansas women.

Because Morrison ran for Johnson County prosecutor as a Republican, the party got to select his replacement. Precinct captains and party functionaries got together earlier this week to choose. One of the candidates was a deputy prosecutor who has actual experience under Morrison. Of course, Kline has no experience as a prosecutor. Kline surprised the assembled Republicans by asking for the chief prosecutor's job. The day before, he had declared his residency in a Stanley apartment belonging to two Republican party stalwarts.

If moderate voters needed proof that the Kansas Republican party is totally uninterested in their views, this Kline appointment is it.

So, as we moderates wipe this spit from our eyes, lets wipe away some illusions, too.

Like many others, I registered as a Republican because Kansas has a long history of electing only Republicans. I hoped to influence the party to become more moderate by voting for moderate candidates in the primaries.

This strategy failed. The Kansas Republican party has moved right while the rest of us returned to the center. The party has become more monochromatic than ever.

As proof, consider their taking this proven loser and installing him as DA. The project should have been DOA, but the party just can't seem to get too far too the right to suit themselves, so it made perfect sense to the right-wing activists in charge.

The time to switch parties is now. Let them keep their progress towards an ever more radically conservative party. Let them cling to 19th century thinking. The rest us of need to move on.

Information on how to switch party affiliation can be found here.

The elections of last month prove that Kansas moderates do have a voice and do have a chance to get elected - if they run as Democrats. Look at Nancy Boyda, Paul Morrison, and Dennis Moore.

Both national parties look at the numbers of registered Republicans and Democrats when deciding on which races to support with money and volunteers. Growth in the numbers of registered Democrats in the county and the state will definitely attract attention. So will losses on the Republican side.

Help bury the political career of Phill Kline - the dead should stay dead, it's not right that he walks among us in Johnson County.

The time has come to register your protest to the Kline fiasco by registering your vote with the other party. Let them know how you really feel.

Labels: , , , , ,


Comments:
I am reading this book right now about how Kansas used to have this radical tradition a century ago and now they are all voting for right-wing republicans who resonate with them on social issues but don't follow through, and then push through legislation that is antithetical to the interests of the people who elected them. Wish I could remember the name of the book; don't have it with me.
 
FYI Newly elected Shawnee Kansas State House Reprehensive D Cindy Neighbor is also a former republican. After loosing as an incumbent in the Republican primary two years ago she switched party’s this year and ran against her usurper as a democrat. There were a total of eight former Republicans running as Democrats last election, four won.
 
You are right on, Mike! This is the most blatant disregard of all that I would deem ethical. Kline did NOT reside in Johnson County at the time of this "installation" and was a very last minute candidate despite speculation prior to the event. But what galls me the most is that he has no experience which I would expect to be crucial to this position. Johnson County will ultimately be the loser in this whole fiasco.
 
Post a Comment



<< Home
Visit My Current Blog!

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?