Monday, August 02, 2010

Kansas Primary: August 3, 2010

Before we move on to our day-before elections coverage, let me just say that Dad's settling in nicely at what we lovingly refer to as Shady Pines, but what I really came here today for was to get some of this election poison out of my system.

Get out and vote. Don't sit there and tell me your vote doesn't matter, it does. If you want our elected officials to stand up for the principles they espouse, you need to get off your ass and stand up for the principles YOU espouse. You have a better chance of seeing the candidate you want elected than you do of winning the lottery.

I know I knowingly came to a Red State when I moved to Kansas so I am pleasantly surprised by the wealth of candidates the Democrats are fielding for the primary. Unfortunately I think they could have winnowed out some of the less-likely-to-win candidates in favor of a cleaner ballot and spending more on the few to reach more "undecided" ears. Hopefully this oversight will be rectified by the time November rolls around.

I'm not going to leave my party (too much) in my nit-picking other than to say that I was unaware that there was so much voter fraud going on in the state of Kansas that someone felt the need to make it the #1 issue in their campaign and, really, do you want to send someone to Washington who's only campaign promise is that they're going to "stick it" to Obama and Pelosi? That frightens me more than I can say.

Please note that I am only commenting on races in which I am actually able to vote. The rest of you can do your own research 'cause that's part of the voting process.

For US Senator we're fielding:

Robert Conroy, a man who has no idea how he ended up on the voter rolls as a registered Republican. Thanks, I don't need someone that clueless representing my interests.

David Haley, the only one with legislative experience and my common-sense vote but for the fact that he's so soft spoken I don't know if the people in Washington or Kansas can hear him.

Lisa Johnston, whom my gut and my heart tells me will do the best at the job but for the fact that she has no experience swimming with sharks.

Charles Schollenberger, who says many things I agree with but again, no time in the shark tank.

Patrick Wiesner, who has ten things on his to-do list, seven of which I agree with but I vehemently disagree with those other three.

For the US House of Representatives our choices are:

Cheryl Hudspeth, who is far too valuable at the local level to let go to Washington.

Thomas Koch, a man who can kindly be described as an eccentric Kansan.

Sean Tevis...I don't believe I'd ever seen a left-wing nutcase until I took a browse through his website. I believe he must be friends with the KU alumni who is convinced the Russians are controlling the weather and using it as a weapon against the United States.

For Governor/Lt. Governor there is only one choice, Tom Holland and Kelly Kultala and I don't have a car with a big enough bumper for that sticker but I would vote for Satan himself if he was running against Brownback. Oh wait, he is running against Brownback...

For Attorney General and Treasurer we have Steve Six and Dennis McKinney respectively, so unless I'm doing the write-in thing, X marks the spot.

And, finally, we have the battle of the Chris' for Secretary of State. Chris Biggs hasn't put much on the web to defend his current job or give retention reasons but Chris Steineger has a "billion dollar list" on his website detailing things he'd like to try to reduce the deficit. Because the list contains humor, he will get a vote from me.

So there you have it Dems, these are our choices. All three of us need to get out tomorrow and vote!