Jean Schodorf, Kansas State Senator, Leaves Republican Party

[highplainsdem]

Source: Huffington Post

A moderate Republican Kansas state senator said reports of a GOP planning meeting on the night of President Barack Obama's inauguration helped finalize her decision to leave the party this week.

Sen. Jean Schodorf (R-Wichita) said a report on Hardball last week about the meeting -- first reported in Robert Draper's April book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives" -- combined with her recent experiences at the center of Kansas' bitter GOP civil war and concern over the national GOP platform, cemented her decision to leave. Schodorf was defeated in last month's Republican primary -- along with other moderate Republicans -- in a campaign steered by Gov. Sam Brownback (R) and conservative groups, including Americans for Prosperity.

"When I heard that while people were suffering from the recession that Republican leaders were plotting to get even with the president, that was it," Schodorf told The Huffington Post.

Draper wrote in his book that over a dozen Republican leaders -- including GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) -- held a dinner meeting on Jan. 20, 2009, to plan how to block Obama's agenda and help defeat the president in 2012.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/jean-schodorf-kansas-republican_n_1855033.html

---

Good for her.

Democrats need to make sure that everyone is aware of that 2009 meeting. It should be mentioned again and again this week at the DNC, especially in primetime.

[KansDem]

1. Thanks for the news and link, highplainsdem

This is good to know. I hope other moderate Kansas legislators follow suit...

(PS--Whenever I see your DU name I think of...dare I say it?..."High Plains Drifter" )

[reflection]

2. Yes.

Democrats need to make sure that everyone is aware of that 2009 meeting. It should be mentioned again and again this week at the DNC, especially in primetime.

This. Over and over and over.

[skeewee08]

3. Good for Sen Jean Schodorf

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. But everybody does it! (Cue in Andrea Mitchell and David Gregory )

[Cha]

13. Lazy ass gop water

Luggers.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

26. You are too kind.

[Cha]

28. That's true. lol

[avebury]

5. K&R nt

[Lucy Goosey]

6. Integrity is incompatible with today's Republican party

I'm not even exaggerating here, am I?

[Andy823]

7. Good

I think that there will be more republicans that are upset about this, maybe some in politics will do as Sen. Jean Schodorf did, but there will also be moderate republican voters who fell pretty much the same way. The ones who are already on the fence over what has been happening in the republican party, the ones who have not been happy with the tea party take over, ones that are really upset with the way republicans are treating women, seniors that have not been happy with what Romney and Ryan want to do with medicare, and whole lot of other republicans who just have had enough with the way their party has gone to the radical views of the crazy far right of the party.

Now it may not mean they will all vote for president Obama, some may, but I think a huge number of them won't vote at all, they will simply stay home, and that won't help Romney/Ryan at all, but will help the president.

[tblue37]

21. Kansan here. While I am glad she is switching parties and making some noise about this,

the fact remains that she never said a word about any of this stuff until the Kochs and their minions financed primaries by wingnuts against her and several other Kansas "moderates," who are moderates only in the most relative sense.

They did not go along with every single thing the most extreme Republicans and Gov. Brownback demanded, though they did go along with most of what the wingnut wing wanted.

But because they were not 100% submissive to the Kochs (maybe only 97% or 98%), these "moderates" got primaried out of their seats. Now they are suddenly discovering that maybe the Republican Party isn't all rainbows, ballons, cupcakes, and unicorns--but as long as they had their nice little seats of power and influence, they were willing to go along to get along.

If some of these so-called moderates had been willing to take a stand against Republican evil before they lost their own seats, then maybe Republicans' most extreme members would not have been able to do as much damage or fool as many people.

[lunasun]

38. i just hope they do not try to run as democrats -moving the party to the right

All these jumping ship now waited too long imo

[patrice]

8. Schodorf's subcommitee chairs: economic development, HOSPITAL funding, and arts and culture.

Schodorf said that she has long focused her Senate career on job creation and providing social services for the less fortunate, noting that her district is largely poor and elderly. Schodorf also chairs subcommittees dealing with economic development and hospital funding and a joint committee on arts and culture issues.

[julian09]

9. That is the only thing GOP have accomplished the last FOUR YEARS obstructionism.

with much success to the detrement of the country and victims of their perverted desire to defeat Obama.
This unamerican behavior by itself, is reason enough to replace every participant in that meeting who are up for reelection.
Every american should be made aware of this over and over, especially when they call Obama a failure, because they engineered it.
The Gop is still pouring accelerant on a fire, instead of retardant and cheering while economy, and job creation struggles.

[freshwest]

14. +1

[Kingofalldems]

10. Kick this one

And Rec.

[progressivebydesign]

11. There are good people in the GOP, and they have had enough.

I don't know her politics, other than she was a republican. But I admire people that stand up for what's right.

If she chooses to join the Democrats, then i hope she gets a warm welcome.

[longship]

15. If she chooses to register as a Dem.

The article says she hasn't decided whether to register I or D. The Sedgwick County Party would expect that she register D. But then, she'd be welcome, especially if she helped work to get Dems elected.

[Cha]

12. See, there's a moderate repub sighting! One

Last edited Tue Sep 4, 2012, 05:41 PM - Edit history (1)

whose departure from the gop shows she's a realist.

This does Need To Go VIRAL!!

Thanks highplainsdem.

[tblue37]

22. See my post 21 above. nt

[Cha]

24. Thanks!

[tblue37]

29. See, I feel about the "good," "decent," "moderate,"

Republicans the same way I feel about the "good," "decent," "honest" cops out there who stand by and let the bad ones get away with what they do. Sure, just as with cops, the politicians are afraid that if they rock the boat and fail to just go along with whatever their bad guy colleagues are doing, then their own careers will be hurt.

But at least the cops have the excuse that they fear they might not receive needed back-up in a dangerous, even life-threatening, situation, whereas the politicians are just at risk of losing power, influence, maybe even money or their best chance at racking up even bigger bank balances.

But if, just to protect their own interests, "good" people stand by and let evil people commit evil, especially when that evil has such serious, such catastrophic consequences, then those "good" people are maybe not so good after all.

Sure, I am glad moderate Republicans "see the light" after being screwed over by the wingnut extremists in their own party, but wouldn't it be nice if they would speak up before their own ox has been gored?

Maybe if enough of them did, then the bad guys would wield a bit less power and get stopped before they do as much damage.

[kurtzapril4]

32. You're exactly right.

The only reason she's standing up now is that she lost her primary.

[hfojvt]

34. and really, it sorta proves the conservatives point

they would call her a RINO - Republican In Name Only. That's why they, not just the other Koch brothers, but the conservatives in her own district, wanted to defeat her. By leaving the party, she proves they were right. Gilstrap did the same thing in my district. In the primary he said "I am a good Democrat" Democratic primary voters said "no, you are not" and defeated him in the primary, and then he switched parties, proving us right.

Still, I hope she brings enough voters with her to cost the conservatives the election this fall. I might note though, that it did not work in Gilstrap's district. After he was defeated, the Democrat still won.

[coalition_unwilling]

16. Emphatic K&R! Let us hope this is the start of a wave of Republican

defections.

[Berlum]

17. I thank the Senator for her integrity

Shame on the rest of the Republican scalawags.

[grantcart]

18. This is what the Romney folks call a bed wetter.

Or technically an ex bed wetter and now a communist.

[SunSeeker]

19. Welcome, Jean!

As Jackie Kennedy, who grew up Republican, once said: being around Democrats is a lot more fun.

[xtraxritical]

20. Are you kidding me? She is only aware of it now after it's been common knowledge

and widely reported for three and a half years? I call BS. The article states that she just lost in a Republican primary, I think she's trying to position herself to do a Joe Lieberman party switch. We sure don't need anymore Blue dog DINO,s. I just hope her political career is dead.

[spooky3]

25. I had the same reaction re: how could she not have known about this previously?

I understand that in some places it is very difficult to win as a Dem unless you lean to the right. But she needs to be honest about her reasons and demonstrate commitment to Dem principles.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

23. 'Was defeated in last month's R primary'--So she was PURGED--

she did not quit; she was FIRED. If she wants to contimue her political career in Kansas, and not just retire from politics, she has to find another team, either an independent party or the Democrats.

[gcomeau]

27. Put. Her. On. Stage. -nt

[The Last Democrat]

30. Sen. Jean Schodorf! Well that’s

good news quiting the Repug’s. But, she stills not sure which way she going. I would have known what side I was going to before quitting. Huh! Just makes me wonder?

[kaiden]

31. Went to high school with her. She was always righteous.

[The Last Democrat]

33. "kaiden said,

Went to high school with her. She was always righteous."

I would bet.

[rachel1]

35. I'm expecting a mass exodus in the coming weeks if not months

[alp227]

36. She watches MSNBC????

Or a constituent sent her the video? But good on her. Hope she finds good civic opportunities in the future.

[sarcasmo]

37. Kick!

[Ken Burch]

39. Nice personal act...but is there any hope at all

that this will stop the right-wing GOP attempt to break the moderate Senate coalition in Kansas?

That state has moved so horrifically far to the right that a right-wing GOP state senate takeover will allow Sam Brownback to rule the state like a prairie Pinochet.

[Blue Owl]

40. Nearer, my God, to thee...

...Nearer, to thee...

(que sound of Titanic sinking)