A New Year's Eve Shocker: Laura Kelly Drops Out

Early this morning the Topeka Capital Journal broke some good news - JV candidate Laura Kelly is dropping her bid to take on Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins in the 2nd district. Kelly claims demands of conducting the U.S. House campaign and responsibilities of being a member of the State Senate were incompatible. The obligation to serve her constituents proved stronger than the desire to defeat Jenkins, she said. "I can't do this race and do the Senate," Kelly said.

Our thoughts: As an extremely liberal member of the Kansas State Senate who will probably have to vote for a tax increase this year, loves unions and would support everything Pelosi pushes - Kelly just didn't stand a chance against Jenkins. So what's the REAL reason Kelly is dropping out? A personal scandal? Can she really not run a campaign and govern at the same time? Could she not raise money in a climate that has become toxic for Democrats (especially here in Kansas)? Maybe she just doesn't have the fire in her to run a rigorous campaign. I guess we'll take her at her word.

Nancy Boyda got 46% of the vote in 2008 against Jenkins in the general election. We'd estimate that number is padded with an extra 2-3% from people turning out for Obama. Kelly really isn't known outside of her district and would need a lot of money to get her name out there. We'd guess against Jenkins in the general in 2010 - Kelly would have been lucky to break 42%.

We'll go ahead and add Laura Kelly to the 'Democrat Candidates That Weren't' Club - Tom Wiggins, Greg Orman, Dan Glickman, Mark Parkinson...So let's recap. Democrats are now without a candidate for U.S. Senate, Governor, the 2nd Congressional seat, the 3rd Congressional Seat, and pretty much, the 1st Congressional seat.

We can hear Democrats saying: Help us Raj Goyle, you are our only hope.

So with that, we wish you all a Happy New Year! We'll be back in 2010 to continue telling you What's Right With Kansas!

Is 2010 the Age of Aquarius?

A couple weeks ago we gave an update on State Senator Laura Kelly who is challenging Rep. Jenkins for the 2nd congressional district. After surveying her campagin website which gives us little detail - we reported on some of the interesting findings on her MySpace page. Unfortunately, Liberal Laura is staying true to her astrological sign and has rebelliously taken down the site.

Aquarians can be stubborn in their opinions. They can become impatient with those who don't see their point of view and disagree with them. They embrace their eccentric ideas so much that they can be viewed as rebellious and unpredictable. Famous politicians who are also Aquarians - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mozart and Oprah!

Sorry if we've offended you Laura. Please don't become impatient with us. We simply would like to know where you stand on Obama's trillion dollar stimulus plan, the national energy tax, a government health care option that rations care and using tax-payer money to pay for abortions. Guess we'll just keep checking her website or other new media for updates.

Laura Kelly: Slim, Single and Running for Congress!

Liberal State Senator Laura Kelly threw her hat in the ring to run for Congress a few months ago. She remains a relative unknown to Kansans outside of Shawnee county. However, following her announcement to run, she has made quite the splash online. She's on popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. But her MySpace is the most intriguing.

Here are a few observations worth mentioning:

• According to Kelly's MySpace, she is out, proud, and SINGLE! We thought she was married, at least according to her website, but it shows she logged in the day before yesterday, on November 16. Is this simply a mistake or has Laura "gone rogue" in Cyberland?
  
  
• Secondly, she's profiled herself as Slim/Slender. Perhaps as to lure in perspective suitors? I mean who doesn't want a member of Congress that is fit and trim? You betcha! Maybe Kelly can pull a Palin and make the cover of Newsweek in a runner's outfit.
  
  
• Last, but certainly not least, Kelly is a proud Aquarius. haha...more on that later. Not to mention, Kelly's mood is "neutral". Come on Laura, get excited! You're running for Congress!
  

Just as soon as we finish this post, we are going to befriend liberal Laura on MySpace. Who doesn't want a friend that is nearly 60, slim, single, and an Aquarius! Like our friend Tom Wiggans, the last thing we want to see if liberal Laura in Congress. But we LOVE her on MySpace!

Poll Results: Readers Want You Out Dennis

photos from Kansas Meadowlark

This isn't much of a surprise as Dennis Moore has voted party line all year, supporting cap and tax, the worthless stimulus, supporting the anti-business "card check" bill, and most recently, government run health care.

According to 60% of our readers, Dennis Moore will be the most fun to defeat come 2010. We couldn't agree MOORE! Here are the results

Which Dem will be most fun to defeat in 2010?

Moore – 60%

Goyle – 24%

Laura Kelly – 16%

Larry Gates – 6%

Happy Friday

If you're trying to get through te 1,990 pages of the new House health care bill - check out this reading guide the Republican Conference put together.

Some of our favorites:

Page 94 - Section 202(c) prohibits the sale of private individual health insurance policies, beginning in 2013, forcing individuals to purchase coverage through the federal government

Page 297 - Section 501 imposes a 2.5 percent tax on all individuals who do not purchase “bureaucrat-approved” health insurance - the tax would apply on individuals with incomes under $250,000, thus breaking a central promise of then-Senator Obama’s presidential campaign

Page 520 - Section 1161 cuts more than $150 billion from Medicare Advantage plans, potentially jeopardizing millions of seniors’ existing coverage (Remember Obama's promise not to make any cuts to Medicare??)

***Still waiting to hear from Team Goyle or Kelly on whether they're supporting this massive take-over of the health care system

House Dems Keep Pushing

House Democrats unveiled their comprehensive health care package today. What will be the new catch phrase - Medicare Part E, the Competitive Choice? No matter what, the plan will still involve a government-run option that will compete unfairly. Check out this video for a quick reminder on the door this 'option' could be opening. The real kicker is that the bill, the comprehensive version of HR 3200 - somehow doubled in size - 1,990 pages. HERE

**Be sure to catch Queen Kathy's quote at 1:55 - "I'm all for a single-payer system....eventually"


When will Raj Goyle and Laura Kelly break their silence and announce they'd be voting right in lockstep with Liberal Democrats for this unfunded expansion of government?

Democrats Confident...citizens beware

Democrats leaders today came out in strong support of their health reform proposals. Speaker Pelosi reassured - "At the end of the day we will have a public option" in the House bill. Senate Majority Leader Hoyer confirmed that the Senate too will have a public option. However, it will contain an 'opt out' clause for States. Good thing since the low reimbursement levels of Medicare and the proposed cuts to the program in both Chambers' versions will further bankrupt our states - at least this will allow for states to be smart enough to avoid this government-run option.

Luck for us in Kansas - some of our leaders in the State Legislature are already on top of it. Sen. Mary Pilcher Cook and Reps. Brenda Landwehr and Peggy Mast will hold a series of press conferences Tuesday to announce their sponsorship of bills to exempt Kansas from any federal health reform legislation.

SCHEDULE
Wichita: 9AM at Wichita Independent Business Assocation, 445 N. Waco
Emporia: 11:30AM at 6th & Merchant
Topeka: 2PM in the Kansas Senate chamber
Johnson County: 4PM at 10600 Mastin, Entrance A, the waiting room of the College Park Family Care Center's Specialty Office in OP

We're still waiting to hear if Laura Kelly and Raj Goyle will be supportive of this legislation in the state House. And since they're aspirint to high office - we'd love to hear if they would be joining Dennis Moore in support of a government-run public option. Considering Raj's liberal background and previous work for the ACLU, we're sure he's on board - unless he's holding out for a single-payer universal system? Nothing on their websites at this point suggest they wouldn't be voting in lock step with Liberal San Francisco leadership.

Goyle's Fundraising Breakdown - Part 1 of ?

While we didn't stay up all night to figure out the breakdown of Kansas vs. Out of State money - which looks to be the majority from the latter...we did have to lose a little sleep to find a few fun highlights in his report.

Let's start out with the Kansas Democrat Has - Beens
Former members and candidates Jim Slattery, Dan Glickman ($1K), Nancy Boyda ($250), Jill Docking ($2K)
Staffers Howard Baulke (Moore's CoS - $1K), Shanan Guinn (Boyda CoS - $250), Julie Merz (former Moore/Slattery staffer - $250)
Greg Orman ($2,400) - you remember him - he had a short lived campaign against Senate Roberts
Soon to be has been - Governor Mark Parkinson ($2,400)

Others to note include:
KS-02 candidate Laura Kelly ($250) - apparently she doesn't need to fundraise for her own campaign - she's just giving it away

Kansas Democratic Party Executive Dir - Kenny Johnson has lots of faith in Raj with a $10.00 donation

And of course our friend over at ForwardKansas, Colin Curtis - $50

The report is a real page turner - we literally couldn't stop. Feel free to start flipping through it yourself HERE

The Myth of "Independent" Democrats

Remember back in 2008 when then Senator Barack Obama promised a "new era in politics"...a time when he would transcend the partisan divide? Remember when he talked about how there aren't blue state or red states, but rather the "United States"? At each campaign event, Obama promised change, a break from partisanship.

And in the past 10 months, we've seen him and his party push a partisan, ideologically narrow agenda. Just as Kansans weren't fooled by Obama's promise of "independence", neither will they be fooled by so-called independent candidates in 2010.

Liberals Laura Kelly and Raj Goyle are another example of this bait and switch politics.

Goyle's website says it is time for "strong, independent" leadership. Kelly, who announced her run last Friday for Congress, said she would bring "common sense" to Congress.

We have heard this mantra before. Both Kelly and Goyle have strong ties to the partisan, liberal wing of the Democrat Party. Kelly has close ties to Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who is now pushing hard for a government takeover of health care. Kelly campaigned hard for Sebelius' gubernatorial races and Sebelius returned the favor, recording robo-calls for Kelly's state senate run.

Likewise, Goyle spent most of his college years dedicated to the College Democrats, leading the charge against Bob Dole's candidacy on his campus in 1996. He even worked on Clinton/Gore's 1996 campaign. Goyle also has strong ties to the ACLU, where he worked, the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, and the most liberal of activist groups, DailyKos.

There's no question this duo would be voting lock-step with Pelosi and Co., just as we have seen Dennis Moore do in the 3rd district. Over the next year, we will be covering the liberal records of Kelly and Goyle and why Kansas cannot afford to have them in Congress.

The promise of "independence" has been made before and each time, proven a myth. This time will be no different.