Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Gene's money

Is here You'll have to find the 79th race and download the PDF

Monday, October 27, 2008

Campaign cash

Campaign contribution/expense reports were due today. Gene Burr's was not not posted on the Kansas Ethics Commission Web site

Kasha Kelley


Steve Abrams


Greta Goodwin was the big money winner, and spender.

Ed Trimmer

John Whittington

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Arkalalah politics

Lots of politicking at Saturday uptown at Arkalalah. Saw lots of Kasha Kelly stickers and her parade entry was probably the best of all the candidates on the cool four-wheeler jetting from side to side.

But Gene Burr had the most attention-grabbing tactic with the airplane message that I'm sure everybody saw. Didn't see much on the ground activity for Abrams and Goodwin.

I recall four years ago that Kasha had a huge presence at the parade and opponent Sid Regnier had none. Big mistake on his part, I think, that may have cost him at the polls.

Friday, October 24, 2008

State school board

Here's theEagle's Q&A for the Kansas Board of Education candidates in our area. David Dennis (R) and Paul Casanova (D)

Attack ad transcript

Here's the transcript from the attack ad on Abrams running on cable TV. I saw it three times Wed. night. This is being engineered by Democrats in Topeka. Don't know Greta's involvement but we need to ask her ....

Title: WE WON’T BE FOOLED AGAIN


Annc.: HOW MUCH MORE DAMAGE DOES STEVE ABRAMS WANT TO DO TO KANSAS? AS A MEMBER OF THE INFAMOUS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, ABRAMS LED DIVISIVE POLITICAL BATTLES THAT UNDERMINED OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM, HURT OUR CHILDREN AND BROUGHT NATIONAL SHAME ON KANSAS. AS CHAIR OF THE BOARD, HE ALLOWED MEMBERS TO TAKE EXPENSIVE, ELABORATE TAX PAYER FUNDED JUNKETS TO PLACES LIKE MIAMI BEACH. HE EVEN GAVE A 140-THOUSAND DOLLAR A YEAR JOB TO A RIGHT WING CRONY WITH ZERO EXPERIENCE IN EDUCATION. NOW STEVE ABRAMS WANTS TO BE IN THE SENATE? WE WON’T BE FOOLED AGAIN.






Paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Timothy Graham, Treasurer

Fairness

"I like how you only post the comments that agree with you."

I've had a few comments along these lines recently. They confuse me because I post ALL comment unless I deem they are too profane, personal, or meant to smear with no evidence. I think a review of everything on here shows that MOST of the comments are from folks I DON'T necessarily agree with politically.


Perhaps some comments haven't gotten through that I intended to post. There have been times when I miss some inadvertently because it is hard keeping up.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

McSanity

Nice to see McCain supportersstanding up to the fear-mongering

Attack ad on Abrams?

I caught the tail end of what appeared to be a negative ad against Abrams on CNN late last night. I only heard the last five seconds or so, something about not letting him fool voters, maybe. Let me know more if you've seen/heard it.

I've heard that Greta, or other Democratic forces are going to go after Steve for the controversies on the board of ed, but I've yet to see anything.

Chuck Todd story

Pretty scathing review of McCain's strategyless campaign and change in the Republican party.

My wife asked him whether he gets asked who he votes for. He said all the time, but he doesn't even tell his wife because he's afraid she might slip it out.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Eagle on Goodwin-Abrams

Here's the Eagle's Q&A of the Senate race. Pretty informative.

Chuck Todd


Chuck Todd's speech at Southwestern this morning was great. He masters details but also the big picture. He basically says the country is going through a major political realignment, with an era of Republican domination waning. New England might have ZERO Republicans in Congress after this election and The West is becoming increasingly Democratic because of Hispanic population boom.

In this picture he's answering my question of how he keeps his hair from thinning.

Kansas presidential break down

An analysis of why the state is Red by fivethirthyeight.com (Yes, the author is pro-Obama, but there's lots of interesting statistical stuff here)

Kelley Burr story

My story on the 79th District race. Voters have a clear choice, I think.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Abrams and AFP

Abrams and Americans for Prosperity are getting tight

Here's the notice of him speaking at a local AFP event

Event Title: Americans for Prosperity Grassroots Meeting:

Event Description: Americans for Prosperity-Kansas is hosting a grassroots meeting in Arkansas City at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23 at Sirloin Stockade, 2825 N. Summit St., with guest speaker Steve Abrams. The only cost is the price of your meal and/or beverage. For more information, contact Susan Estes at susan.estes@afphq.org.

Event Date & Time: 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23

Event Location: Sirloin Stockade, 2825 N. Summit St.

Greta education flyer


First flyer I've seen for Greta. Was told that she has been very ill recently and hasn't been campaigning.

Burr economy flyer


Another flyer send by Democratic Party of Kansas. I'm told that candidates make contributions to the party in exchange to pay for some of the costs of these flyers. We'll see when reports come in about 10 days.

Abrams flyer


As expected, Americans for Prosperity has mailed a slick flyer for Abrams. It's a nicely done message about keeping taxes low for families. My problem with these is that Abrams gets the benefit of thousands of dollars from a group that does NOT have to report where the money came from. They slide by as a nonprofit and call these "issue ads" because it doesn't specifically endorse a candidate. But that's a laughable defense because the intent is clear. We do know that Koch Industry folks are involved in AFP ....Same goes for the Democratic leaning Kansas for Consumer Privacy Protection, who ran ads against Phill Kline in 2006 and has ties to abortion provider George Tiller.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

We are Red

Obama's not close in Kansas, according to this poll. Course if he comes within 15 points he'll out perform expectations. Slattery's urination ad, may not be working or it may not have time to have an affect.

Burr education flyer



This Burr flyer on education shows one of his big messages. And there are real differences on this issue between him and Kelley. She's been a critic of state education spending and voted against increases, while Burr has said he wants to maintaining education funding.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I don't get this

Why would the Ark City City Commission put a sales tax initiative on the ballot for street repair and then NOT promote/educate voters about the need for it?

The hospital sales tax is overshadowing the street tax, which is why I thought it wasn't wise to put both on the ballot at the same time, if indeed commissioners think both are important.

I'll be mighty shocked if BOTH are approved. Seems remote that voters will vote for two tax increases at once

Oh ... my ... God

You've gotta check out this new ad by Slattery against Roberts.

Now here's my question - vulgar or creative?

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Burr flyer- redone


Flyer mailed by Democratic Party of Kansas for Burr. A positive ad that portrays a"one of us" image. Send me any mailers for Kasha and I'll post them. This is the only one I've seen for this race so far.


Monday, October 13, 2008

Anti-abortion forces

Kansans for Truth in politics sent out an email today highlighting some races to watch. in Kansas. They said the following about Senate District 10, but could have said the exact same thing about Goodwin-Abrams in District 32. Abortion politics is never too far from the surface .....

"Mary Pilcher-Cook is battling for election to the Kansas Senate after being targeted and defeated in the House of Representatives by the abortion/human embryo experimentation crowd. If elected, Mary would take a precious Senate seat away from a pro-abortion Democrat, and put the Senate one vote closer toward the political Holy Grail of a veto-proof supermajority."

Rotary forum

Both Kasha and Gene spoke to Ark City Rotary Club this afternoon. The contrasts in substance, and style, are striking. Kasha is very at ease and natural and speaks without notes. Gene is, as he pointed out, plain spoken. His answers were direct and several times he didn't take all the time given.

On the issues, it is clear that Kasha is still passionate about less-government and less and taxation, while Gene highlights issues that need government help or at least, action, education and health care.

The choice for voters, I think, will be clear.

Stand in follow

Kasha's reply why she had a stand in and why she could not make the forum, below (Have not gotten an email reply from Greta yet):

"Stand-ins always get the same amount of time because they are, in reality, standing in for the candidate. You might remember when Ed Trimmer stood in for Greta at a CCCC forum four years ago. He acted as her liason in the forum with Ray LaBoeuf. That's pretty standard fare in any forum when a candidate cannot make it and has a stand-in."


"I was at a leadership conference this past week. When I was given the original date for the forum, it conflicted with my departure for the leadership conference. I had given several other dates to Marshall Brentlinger, and had contacted Jan Voss about dates, but unfortunately, the time chosen apparently wasn't able to be changed again and was right in the middle of my conference. While both Marshall and Jan suggested finding someone to fill in, I was, of course, very disappointed the date was during my absence. That said, I've heard from quite a few that it was a good forum."

Friday, October 10, 2008

The good John

McCain's camp has been fueling hatred and fear with the "guilt by association" card since he's getting his clock cleaned in the polls right now.

But he finally stood up to some of the nastiness his own campaign has been breeding. This below is from the Time Magazine blog by Anna Marie Cox, who was at McCain's Minnoseta rally today

...he (McCain) just snatched the microphone out the hands of a woman who began her question with, "I'm scared of Barack Obama... he's an Arab terrorist..."

"No, no ma'am," he interrupted. "He's a decent family man with whom I happen to have some disagreements."

Switching shoes

If you think about, Barack Obama is the more traditonal, family-oriented man running for president. Here's an email that was forwarded to me that is pretty thought provoking. Some of the items are irrelevant, and much of McCain's appeal comes from his "brat to prisoner of war to government reformer narrative," that Obama just doesn't have.



HOW RACISM CLOUDS JUDGMENT

What if things were switched around? Would the country's collective point of view be different?

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if McCain had married only once, and Obama was divorced?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a disfiguring car accident.

What if Obama had met his second wife at a party and embarked on an affair while he was still married?

What if John McCain had been the president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama had finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if Michelle Obama had not only became addicted to pain killers, but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain had graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama had trouble reading from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing planes?

What if Obama was the one who publicly displayed an anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

If these questions reflected reality, do you think the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another.

And one more thing, education isn't everything, but still. . . .

Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joe Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters
University of Idaho - 2 semesters
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Fill in

Anybody else find it strange that another state rep would fill in for another state rep. at a candidates forum? And that person got equal time as the actual candidates?

Sign Wars

The political yard signs are out now. Of course they don't necessarily gauge support (think Randy Emerson), but two observations on them overall.

I've seen JUST ONE sign for Goodwin in Ark City, several for Abrams in Winfield. (I didn't canvass the whole towns, just normal course of driving) It's clear Greta Goodwin has plenty of money. Some pols don't spend them on yard signs because they think its ineffective. But still it makes you wonder ....

Also, I've seen one Obama sign in Ark City, several in Winfield on just two main roads - 9th and College.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Boot Roberts

The printed Traveler doesn't run endorsement letters to the editors, but I'll post one here that's very interesting. Bill Fielding, past president of Creekstone Farms, takes U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts to task for not supporting Creekstone's effort to test for mad cow to sell their meat overseas. Here's the letter:

BOOT ROBERTTS
Get rid of Pat Roberts! Roberts has become what American's disdain. He's been in Washington too long and plays the "good 'ol boy" game. I sat in his office more than once. Representing Cargill and Excell (large companies), he game me his attention, time and support. Representing Creekstone (small Kansas company), he gave me 10 minutes and the privilege of listneing to the phone call he took from his wfie discussing details of the upcoming tea with Laura Bush. He not only turned his back on our request to test for mad cow, he worked against our efforts. This resulted in the loss of jobs at Creekstone, and the U.S. lost the Japanese beef market to Australia - government interference over free trade.

Jim Slattery will support free trade, he has common sense, integrity, and a desire to hear both sides of an issue. I no longer live in Kansas, but I grew up and went to college there. I'm still involved in agriculture. For the future of Kansas and the future of this country, I urge you to vote for Jim Slattery. I'm a Republican and worry about the balance in the Senate, but I know that Jim Slattery will serve the people and Roberts will only serve himself.

Willing G. Fielding
Past President, Creekstone Farms

Chuck Todd at Southwestern


For political junkies like me, this is a HUGE coup — NBC's political director, Chuck Todd, is the speaker at the Docking Lecture Series at Southwestern on Oct. 20. (I believe the speech is open to the public) He's kind of the heir apparent to Tim Russert.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Goodwin-Abrams

I appeared on Kansas Week last week — the KPTS show that airs on Friday night and Sunday morning. We were suppose to talk about Goodwin-Abrams, but ran out of time discussing the bailout and VP debate.

Anyway, doing a little research before the show taped Friday afternoon, it seems clear that outside forces are going to weigh in heavily on this one, and that it will get very negative. Abrams is already up with a negative newspaper ad in Mulvane trying to cast Greta as a tax and spend liberal.

And this is what Senate minority leader Anthony Hemsley told me Friday when I asked about Abrams:

"The (state education) board during his tenure became the butt of jokes on late night TV. Made Kansas kind of the laughing stock of the whole county .... It's a very clear cut choice: A seasoned veteran legislator with a pretty strong record in representing her district, versus a guy out of the mainstream of most political thought."

Expect outside groups on both sides to push these negative narratives.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Bett's tanker attack

TIAHRT TAKES MONEY FROM NORTHROP GRUMMAN DURING 2008 ELECTION CYCLE

WICHITA, Kans. – State Senator Donald Betts, Jr. provided information at last week’s press conference that Rep. Todd Tiahrt had taken $3,000 from Northrop Grumman during the 2008 election cycle. Additionally, Tiahrt voted for on the Fiscal 2008 Department of Defense Authorization Bill HR 4986, PL 110-81, Section 804 which allowed the Secretary of Defense the ability to waive “Buy American” Provisions. It passed by the House 369-46 with Representative Tiahrt voting Aye. This vote by the entire Kansas delegation effectively allowed the Air Force to make decisions on outsourcing military work to other countries. Campaign donations to Tiahrt can be reviewed by at The Center for Responsive Politics (a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization) website at this link: http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/pacs.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00008144§or=D&seclong=Defense&cat=D03&induslong=Misc+Defense

“Todd would have you believe that he has been an opponent of ‘outsourcing’ but the truth is he voted for the bill that allowed foreign companies to bid on defense contracts.” “Most people would be shocked to learn that he voted for a bill a few years ago that undermined the ‘Buy American Act’ established in 1933 by giving the Secretary of the Defense the opportunity to let out contracts to foreign governments.”

“I am sure that Representative Tiahrt doesn’t want the public to realize that it was ‘him’ and other members of Congress and not this contract that opened the door to sending our jobs and security overseas,” said Betts. “It is an outrage that he is acting as though he supports Boeing and opposes Grumman when the truth is that he took campaign donations from Grumman,” said Betts. “We should absolutely never outsource our military contracts. The Department of Defense should always use American manufacturing for the sake of insuring the best possible products for our servicemen and women and for our nation’s defense and security.”

In addition to this legislation opening the process to foreign companies, it is important to note that in 2001, both Representative Tiahrt and Senator Roberts started receiving contributions from Grumman’s Political Action Committees (Grumman is the partner with EADS (Airbus) on the tanker project). Shortly thereafter, McCain mounted a campaign to force the Congress and Air Force to drop the Boeing tanker leasing deal introduced in October 2001. McCain bragged during the 2008 campaign for President that he had “saved” the American taxpayer 30 billion dollars by forcing the cancellation of the contract. In May 2003, Roberts voted for the John McCain amendment to the Fiscal Year 2004 military budget (Senate Bill S1050) allowing the Department of Defense to buy military equipment and services from foreign companies, including EADS, undermining the “Buy American Act”. It passed with a 50-48 largely Republican party line vote.

-MORE-

Senator Roberts and Representative Tiahrt are on the Senate and House sub appropriations committees for military spending, yet there is no evidence that they spoke out or tried to stop the cancellation of the Boeing contract in May 2004. Furthermore, the House and Senate in a series of continuing motions eroded the 50% USA content rule used by the Department of Defense by making agreements with 21 foreign countries to grant a waiver from the 50% rule. In other words, the House and Senate declared even if military equipment was manufactured in one of the 21 foreign countries it would be counted as “MADE IN THE USA”. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and President Bush supported these motions as did Roberts and Tiahrt. These motions passed without any reported opposition from Roberts or Tiahrt.

In Fiscal Year 2006 Defense Authorization Act (HR 1815, S1042) contained the authorization for the tanker contract. HR 1815 contained 3 strong Buy American provisions:
a. Section 817 banned the Secretary of Defense from buying military hardware from any foreign company who receives subsidies from a foreign government when that government is a member of the World Trade Organization and applied only when the US is involved in an unresolved WTO dispute over the subsidies or the WTO has ruled the subsidies are illegal. The sole purpose of the amendment was to prohibit Airbus from winning the tanker contract over Boeing.
b. Section 818 required military purchases contain at least 50% USA made content. It would have invalidated the special agreements with 21 foreign countries allowing them to manufacture more than 50% USA military equipment and count it as “made in the USA”
c. Section 1212 would have prevented the US military from buying equipment from foreign companies who have sold items on the USA’s Munitions List to China.

HR 1815 passed the House and was referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee on which Senator Roberts sat. Senator Warner tried to attach the 3 “Buy American” amendments to the Senate defense appropriations bill, but in May 2005 Roberts as a member of the committee dropped the “Buy American” provisions. Grumman teamed with EADS (Airbus) to bid on the tanker in September 2005. The Senate Armed Services Committee stripped “Buy American” provisions out and it passed the Senate Armed Services Committee without any recorded objection from Roberts. On November 15, 2005, the stripped bill passed the Senate with unanimous consent with no recorded objection from Roberts. On that same day, Roberts was named to serve on the conference committee to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate bills. On December 21, 2005, the Senate agreed to the Conference Committee Report by a voice vote, again without the “Buy American” provisions.

Roberts and Tiahrt did not voice their opinions objecting to military contracts involving bidding from foreign companies or foreign countries, yet they have been very vocal as of late to show the voters of Kansas that they are the advocates of keeping military work in the U.S. “Voters need to be alert to realize this is not how they have voted and to realize this is just the latest in their campaign ploys to the public to present a different image,” said Betts.

Tiahrt on his NO vote

Tiahrt Statement Regarding the Bailout Proposal

WASHINGTON—U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-Goddard) today issued the following statement about the Senate Wall Street bailout proposal.

"My decision to oppose the bailout bill today did not come easily," said Tiahrt. "This week I have talked with many hard-working Kansans who are concerned about their savings and even job security. We have a serious problem and need stability in our market.

"However, this $800 billion plan only provides temporary relief while shunning long-term reform and lasting stability. I cannot support a bill that throws money at a problem in hopes it will disappear. We need tough reforms to correct the mistakes that got us into this mess.

"The bailout proposal fails to hold anyone accountable. Wall Street CEOs who practiced deceit can still make out with lavish compensation packages while regular Kansans assume billions in bad debt. Even more troubling is the bill allows foreign financial institutions to participate in the bailout on the backs of American taxpayers.

"This bill provides no assurance that we will not be faced with this financial crisis again because it falls short in reforming the underlying problems."

The Senate-passed bailout bill (H.R. 1424) passed the House by a vote of 263-171.

# # #

Abrams taxes, push poll

Abrams line of attack in a Mulvane News ad is taxes and spending. He's made the "No tax increase" pledge and attacks Goodwin for being a free-spender as the state budget has grown.

Also today, we got a call from a business person who said they had been "push polled" on the Abrams Goodwin race. The caller asked questions like "do you support Goodwin's opposition to teaching students moral values, or do you support Steve Abrams support of teaching students moral values."

A push poll, I think, is when the caller acts like a neutral pollster put slants questions in favor of a candidate.

The business person said the caller would not ID themselves and he did not record the call.

Anyone else getting these?

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Apology

Mell met with NAACP president yesterday and is now apologizing. I give him credit for responding quickly. He certainly didn't have to meet with anybody about this, including them. He certainly didn't have to apologize.

Full story will be posted online later today

p.s. Full disclosure:
As a reader pointed out, Mel did tell me he planned to go as a audacious black women the week before the event. I told him he should reconsider because it would be offensive. I'm also aware of others warning him.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Here tis ...

full story on the Men in Tights controversy that includes Mel's explanation

(Note: The Web version has a correction from the print version, in case anybody got confused. He did say "bullshit" twice during the interview and it was intended to be part of the story)