Abrams coffers

State Board of Ed member Steve Abrams is running again. So far, nobody running against him. Here's the last updated financial report on the Ethics Commission Web site. It's from Dec. 31, so probably outdated.

Few filings

With just 26 days to go, there haven't been many people file for elected office in Cowley County.

The official list of candidates thus far, according to clerk Karen Brooks.

karen brooks - county clerk
kathy foust - county treasurer
nancy horst - register of deeds

don read and randy emerson for sheriff (both republicans)

gary wilson county commission district 2, democrat
carmelita clarkson county commission district 3, democrat
john mars, county commission district 3, democrat

only 7 people have filed for 50 township seats

jim pringle and nick st. peter have filed for reelection to their district judge positions

NOBODY has filed for the state Legislature in Cowley County, according to the Sec. of State Web site This seems weird since Sen. Greta Goodwin announced Feb. 5 that she would seek another term. Pretty sure Ed Trimmer will run again.

Steve Abrams announced he plans to run again for state education board, but he also has not filed yet.

The deadline is June 10.

How much racism?

Fascinating story from Wash. Post this morning. I think this demonstrates that Obama's campaign is, although he doesn't cast it as such, to some degree about breaking racial barriers and overcoming the deep legacy of racism, where it still exists.

No right to vote

A reader writes:

Actually, the Constitution never explicitly ensures the right to vote...

This is true

So far nobody agrees with me. But where has voter fraud ever been a problem. Why create obstacles to voting for people who might not have ID for whatever reason?

Here's the nun story

Voter ID

Kansas looks like it's going to require photo ID's for voting by 2010. Just saw a story about several nuns unable to vote in Indiana primary yesterday because they didn't have ID.

I think these laws are a solution in search of a problem, which creates more problems. Seems like we should have laws that encourage voting, not discourage it. You'll apparently be able to cast a provisional ballot under the Kansas law, and then verify your residence and citizenship later if you don't have an official photo ID. But this creates too many hoops to jump through for a basic constitutional right.

Tell me why I'm wrong..

Still thinking

Kasha Kelley told me today she's still considering whether to run against Greta Goodwin for Senate. She's mulling three options, she said, standing for reelection to the House, running for the Senate, or taking time off to raise her newborn son. Said lots of supporters want her to run against Greta and she's getting the question every day.

Frank Marshall Davis

Reading through the political blogs and Web sites as I do, ran across an article about a Clinton operative who emails negative stories to the press every day about Barack Obama, many of them published by very conservative outlets. The story references our own Frank Marshall Davis, a writer and poet from Ark City... here's a snippet

The Kincaid article that Blumenthal circulated sought to discredit Obama by linking him to an African-American poet and writer whom Obama knew while he was in high school in Hawaii. That writer, Frank Marshall Davis, was, Kincaid wrote, a member of the Communist Party.

I had a teacher at Colorado College who said he was a socialist/communist. Guess that disqualifies me from being president!

And here's the article