Why Kansas Republicans are Becoming Democrats

[leftyladyfrommo]

www.rawstory.com

This is an interesting phenom. here in our area. And this article asks these repub. why they have switched.

Personally I think it has to do with how very far rightwing rep. are in this area. You simply can't be a thinking person and go along with the Repub. party.

They are still arguing over whether the earth is flat. Really!

So this may be a good thing coming to pass around here.

[slackmaster]

1. Very interesting, perhaps instructive

Kicking and recommending.

Another small anecdote from California:

My mom was a lifelong Republican until 1994. She quit because the GOP had been in her words "taken over by wild-eyed religious zealots".

She switched her registration to "Declined to state", which is the fastest growing category in the state.

She said the Democratic Party, at least in California, was too far to the left for her taste, too willing to keep increasing the size and scope of government, and wasteful of the taxpayers' money.

[Warpy]

3. I've heard that one a lot

and I think men like Obama have been oddly tone deaf in reaching out to Evangelicals. They have come off as pandering to the zealots, and that isn't going to do the party any good at all.

Dean struck exactly the right note and he did it in the lion's den, CBN. He linked economic justice to Christ's words and did it without being condescending or preachy.

I don't think we can overestimate how disgusted rank and file pubbies are with their party's fundamentalist butt kissing.

The problem is that we haven't given them a reason to vote Democratic. We haven't given them a clear alternative.

[Douglas Carpenter]

25. I believe you have a wrong impression of the Sojourners movement

--the Evangelicals that sponsored the conference Sen. Obama, Sen. Clinton and Gov.Dean spoke at...

link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2716113

Link for Sojourners


http://www.sojo.net /

link for Sojourners Magazine:


http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.home

Interview with Rev. Jim Wallis (founder and leader of Sojourners) on Democracy Now - link:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/26/1355204

"The Rev. Tim Ahrens shared Wallis' dismay: "The faith of Jesus Christ has become such a violent and violating faith in the religious right," he contended. Ahrens is the founder of We Believe Ohio, a group of 300 clergy members dedicated to promoting social justice."

"Many Sojourner supporters didn't hesitate to call right-wingers "bible thumpers" and "fanatics," and they criticized the Bush administration for not helping the poor. They gave Obama thunderous applause when he proclaimed his support for separation of church and state and giving teenagers access to contraception. " link:
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/nation/14923089.htm

[Greyhound]

7. California is indeed a police state. Left-wing totalitarianism is still

totalitarianism.

Good for Mom.

[blm]

11. There is no left wing totalitarianism in California.

Schwaranegger is just as much part of the lying energy industry Republicans as any of the GOPs in DC.

[Greyhound]

22. You're right, the right-wingers are in charge of the theft, the personal

dictates come from the left. Such a shame, because it is such a wonderful place.

[catzies]

9. Yes, DTS is the fastest-growing voter registration category in CA

which shows how many people think that neither of the two largest parties represent them anymore.

I have no answer; I'm merely agreeing with the observation.

[OneTwentyoNine]

12. Can ANYONE in the Repuke party or leaving really say....

"That they would switch to being a Dem except those Liberals are WAY to willing to keep increasing the size and scope of Government"

Jesus H. Christ...If they have ANY brains look at what Bush has done on a fucking DAILY basis with the size and scope of Government. He spies on you via your phone and bank accounts,wipes his ASS with the Constitution and has spent us into the next universe.

He now wants to shut down the "free" Press through lawsuits (I guess that isn't frivilous) from reporting anything HE doesn't want reported. Oh,its still ok to out CIA agents and report that story if it fits that asswipes agenda for starting a WAR based 100% on lies.

[Cosmocat]

24. That just burns my butt ...

I don't know ... Maybe back in 94 there might have been some foundation for that ... But, as you noted, Jesus H Christ ... WTT ... It just burns my butt that you have some repukes who are fed up with their party's nonsense, but still buy the braindead clinches about the Ds as truth ...

[slackmaster]

26. That is not really what my mom said at the time, or would say now

She was more attracted to the DTS position than the Democratic one. She has never said anything to the effect of "I would register as a Democrat, but...." Her objection to the Democratic position now is essentially unchanged from when she was registered Republican.

Maybe you aren't familiar with how being a DTS voter affects your choices in California. The key advantage of that selection is that you have the option, in a primary election, of choosing to vote the ballot of any of the parties that permit DTS voters to participate. In practice, every party has allowed DTS citizens to vote in their primary in every election, with the exception of voting for party committee members.

Thus, if a DTS voter wishes to influence the outcome of, say, the Republican primary by choosing an underdog over an incumbent, or in the Democratic primary by supporting a candidate the voter knows personally, he or she can do that.

Being a DTS voter doesn't change your options in a general election. It does, as others have said, send a message to the parties that "You all suck!"

[MoonRiver]

2. There's a sea change going on in KS.

Sebelius signified the beginning and has been a wonderful inspiration. Now others are following. The rw extremists have simply gone too far, plus people are economically hurting badly. Kansans have always been proud of their schools, periodic wacko outbursts notwithstanding, and have traditionally been willing to support them financially. Now the wackos have taken over and are trying to cram religious dogma and crazy notions like creationism down students' throats. Plus they are starving the system for funds. It's the fascist agenda in spades and many parents across the state are frankly fed up.

[tridim]

10. They've been trying to take over the schools for as long as I can remember

My moderate Repub parents hate the religious right that's taking over their state, but they still vote Republican without fail every time. I've tried every angle and I can't get them to wake up. The fact is they'll continue to vote against their best interests simply because "Democrat" is a bad word in Johnson County. It drives me insane.

[MoonRiver]

16. Did they vote for Sebelius?

I'm curious because lots of Repubs did. Somehow she was able to overcome that anti-Democratic knee jerk reaction.

[Joe Fields]

17. Oh, God, please don't mention "Johnson County." It sends chills

up and down my spine. I am a proud Jackson Countian from across the border, and have little tolerance left for those from across the line.

[tridim]

18. I lived in Johnson County for exactly 22 years

After college I was out of there so fast. Lawrence opened my eyes.

Sure J.C. a nice place to raise your kids up (at least that's what everyone from J.C. says), but it's pure political hell.

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. good news coming in from everywhere

[Kolesar]

5. Crony capitalism, theft, greed, lying, & warring are moral issues ...

And people "get it".

[Breeze54]

6. It's about candidates switching...

http://www.rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kansascity.com%2Fmld%2Fkansascity%2F14991794.htm

Posted on Sat, Jul. 08, 2006

Candidates explain why they switched
By STEVE KRASKE
The Kansas City Star

Ending lifelong allegiances to the Republican Party in Kansas was no simple matter.

“I didn’t sleep well that night,” said Kent Goyen of Pratt,
who’s running for the 114th District seat.

But each of the party jumpers had a common tonic —
visits with Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, either in person or by telephone.

Those talks eased the way for several new Democrats.

“She said we are all Kansans,” said Judy Leyerzapf of Abilene.
“I think that’s a great answer. We’re all about the same thing, really.”

Whether the state is seeing the beginning of a trend that features a more robust
Democratic Party and a Kansas GOP shorn of its moderate base remains to be seen.

In other words, some of the new Democrats have to win in November if the party jumping is to continue.

Steve Lukert, Sabetha :thumbsdown:
Age: 58
Occupation: Farmer, retired government teacher
Running for: 62nd District House seat

Switched parties because:
Two reasons. He ran for the state Senate two years ago in the GOP primary and lost,
but said he was disillusioned by the tactics used to defeat him.
“I was put off by the meanness of the campaign within the Republican Party and the
intentional misrepresentations,” Lukert said.

For example, he says he was portrayed as a baby killer even though he considers
himself anti-abortion and would bar abortions except when the mother’s health is at risk.

:wtf: YIKES!!!!!!!!!! :scared: Please don't run or win Steve Lukert!!

more at link....

[beyurslf]

8. They are not becoming Dems---they are just switching parties.

None of them actually have changed their beliefs. The Repub party in KS has become so extreme that so-called moderates no longer feel welcome. So, they come to our party because we have the "big tent." This does not mean they share most of our values--it just means we aren't as mean to them.

Sebelius' Lt. Gov pick is a former Repub party chairman in the state. He didn't change he says--the Repub party changed. And now I am supposed to cheer because he is a "Dem"? He has all the same beliefs that made him a Repub activist for 30 years.

[gully]

15. They're trying to have it both ways.

eom

[Douglas Carpenter]

23. I wouldn't be so certain of that. Although in some cases you're probably

correct. And I can't speak for specific Kansas politicians. Because I don't know enough about them. But when I think of how many Republicans of yester-year were--they would almost seem like progressive Democrats of today because the entire range of discussion has moved so far to the right especially post Ronald Reagan. As someone on DU posted a month or so ago, "if the range of discussion keeps moving as far to the right over the next thirty years as it has over the past thirty years; Barry Goldwater will be remembered as the father of modern liberalism".

"When I was boy" many Republican still felt commitment to their communities and responsibility to the less fortunate. Many believed in a moderate foreign policy and did not want unnecessary wars. Many believed in a basic live and let live ethic and that government had no business policing peoples private lives. Many believed in community grassroots democracy.

Many old fashioned Republicans wouldn't pass the ideological litmus test of some (and I must say some--not all) New Democrats. They would be too far to the left.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientist and the hope of its children. This is not a way of life at all. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower

[Th1onein]

13. I am in Kansas now

I make it a point to bring up politics wherever I'm at-grocery store lines, ticket counters, etc. Drip, drip, drip....

[snowbear]

20. Good for you Melanie!

You must be doing something right there!

[OneTwentyoNine]

14. Your talking about a State that didn't go for FDR the third time around...

I guess they figured that after two terms of fighting for ordinary people,putting them back to work and starting programs that STILL benifit workers 70+ YEARS later they were ready for another "The business of America is business" type of Republican which is what got them to the Great Depression in the first place.

Yeah...its my home State and like others we bang our heads against the wall wondering how STUPID the people can be.

[longship]

19. Kathleen!!! [better link provided]

BTW, here's a link directly to the article:
Candidates explain why they switched


What a wonderful, wonderful person.

...and a damned good Democrat!!

[bobbieinok]

21. y'all might find this blog interesting ......

http://redstaterabble.blogspot.com/

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Kansas Science Standards Judged Worst in Nation

Updated: You know the Kansas science standards -- the ones the the Discovery Institute wants so badly to stand up for? The standards John Calvert's Intelligent Design Network say "reflect a modest step towards objective public education about origins."

Well, according to an article published by John Hanna of the Associated Press, "Kansas has the nation’s worst science standards for public schools, a national education group says, condemning the state for rewriting its definition of science and treating evolution as a flawed theory."

Writing that the Kansas science standards make a "mockery of the very definition of science,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute gave the state a grade of "F" on its standards.

Board chair Steve Abrams -- who led the effort to push the new standards through over the strenuous objections of scientists and educators -- reportedly called the institute’s assessment “just incomprehensible.”

There are, apparently, many things that must seem incomprehensible to Abrams.