Is this over yet?

Dear Sen. Clinton,

We're writing you this letter today not as supporters of you or Sen. Obama, but as Democrats. We have made it a priority to endorse neither you nor Sen. Obama on this blog because we feel that lots of good Democrats wholeheartedly support both of you and in the end, we'd be giddy with an Obama Administration or a Clinton Administration.

With that in mind, we write you this letter today asking you to withdraw your name from conention for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

We have known for quite some time, as I'm sure you have as well, that your road to the nomination was going to depend on seating Florida and Michigan's delegates and convincing a significant majority of the unpledged superdelegates to support you. However, after Sen. Obama won convincingly in North Carolina and took you down to the wire in Indiana, it's just impossible for you to secure the nomination without some sort of last second deal-making that in our estimation would be detrimental to the party.

Sen. Obama leads you by 155 delegates with only 217 delegates left to be awarded, and the demographics of the remaining states make anything but a split of those last delegates highly unlikely.

The scorched earth mentality that this primary has taken on makes continuing forward a suicide mission. As we continue to gash at each other's throats, John McCain is out on the campaign trail in the battleground states framing himself. He's telling voters that he's a maverick, when we know that the Straight Talk Express has had four flat tires for a few years now. Sen. McCain is telling voters in Ohio and Florida and Missouri and Colorado that he's a new voice, but we all know that he represents four more years of the same failed Bush policies.

It's time to put aside our own personal ambitions and do what's best for the party and for the country. While you would have been a great candidate, the voters have spoken and Sen. Obama came out on top. It's time to admit defeat.

Moreover, when giving your concession speech, please plead with your supporters to put aside all the animosity of the primary and unite behind one candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, so that we can send Sen. McCain out to pasture where he belongs. This is not about Hillary Clinton. This is not about Barack Obama. This is about the Democratic Party and the people of the United States. We are not endorsing Sen. Obama or unendorsing you, we are just pleading that you let the curtain come down on a valiant effort made by a great candidate and let this party and this country move on.

Sincerly,
The Left Brain team

Sucks to be John McCain

Poor John McCain only made $420,000 last year. Compared to the millions brought in by Obama and Clinton, you almost start to feel sorry for the old guy. I mean, if he wanted to buy a brand new Ferrari, he might have to FINANCE it. *GASP* Obviously, living on such an income clearly means he's in touch with the common man.

Ok, back to reality. You see, while John McCain's tax returns may say he's made less than $800,000 over the past two years, that hardly paints an accurate picture of the the senator's financial means.

This is because Sen. McCain and his wife elected to file separately, meaning he doesnt' have to claim any of his wife's earnings on his tax return. In layman's terms, this means he can hide from the American people just how rich he really is.

But a recent Slate story sheds some light on the McCain's financial situation. The thing that stuck out to me is the McCain's spent more than $400,000 on "household staff" in 2006 and 2007. Man of the people alright.

Does it matter that John McCain has money? No. Being rich doesn't preclude you from being a good President. Anymore, just about anyone who has made it to this level in politics is going to be at least of above average wealth and both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are well-to-do. That part doesn't bother us, what bothers us is Sen. McCain trying to come off as a man of the people and not being entirely forthcoming about his own financial status.

Democratic Domination, explained

Sometimes I find myself daydreaming about the drubbing the KS GOP received from Democrats in the 2006 election cycle and wondering "How the Hell did we Democrats do so well in a state where the registration numbers say we should get our clocks cleaned every year?"

Well, I think the majority of the reason is Democrats have a vastly superior organization on the ground and some great candidates. But there is something else that sometimes I have trouble putting my finger on. And then I get another email from Christian Morgan and it all comes back to me. Let's break down the latest (sent at 10:51 on a Friday night...I bet that got a lot of play, Christian!)

Democrat Week in Review

Say it with me now...Democratic...Democratic. Democrat is a noun, Democratic is the adjective. It's hard to take you seriously when your grammar is so piss-poor.

In case you missed it, here are a couple of highlights from the last week.

Kathleen Sebelius

In her continuing attempts to use Kansas as a stepping stone for her national political ambitions, the Governor was in New York this week discussing the Republican led legislature's ideas on reducing crime and recidivism rates in the state—while the Legislature was hard at work trying to undo her rejection of the most substantial job growth opportunity for Western Kansas in the last decade.

Of course, all of our kids will have emphysema, but by God their grandfathers would have been given a chance to work construction on a power plant (of course, chances are those jobs would've gone to out of state skilled laborers, but that's neither here nor there.)

While she was gone, she also managed ignore the hard work of House and Senate Republicans by taking credit for Kansas being one of the "Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States."

We can't help but wonder if the authors of StayRedKansas and the authors of this email share the same brain waves. Much like StayRed, good ol' Christian didn't feel the need to cite (or apparently read) the study he mentions. We'll help. See here or here. The author of the study said the results reflected a commitment from the Governor's office to business friendly practices. We'll give the legislature credit for the criminally-low minimum wage in Kansas, though.

But we were quick to point out that it's because of the Republican legislature passing pro-business tax credits, economic growth incentives, and tax cuts that make Kansas such a business friendly state. The Governor seemed to forget that she stood in the way of these policies by proposing tax increases, socialized medicine, and rejecting job growth proposals.

Yes, because most businesses our against providing free health care to children under 5. Which, by the way, Susan Wagle is now all for. Too bad she waited until after George W McCain...er...Bush...made sure there was no money to fund her new-found pet project.

Nancy Boyda

There seems to be a disconnect between the freshman Democrat's rhetoric and her actions in Washington. A few weeks ago, she made a big splash in the press about how she was not going to use auto-dial calls during her campaign. A few days later, residents across the 2nd District received an auto-dial message from Boyda's office. While she didn't specify that she wouldn't auto-dial from her official office, we find this just another case of Boyda not following through on her promises to the people of the 2nd District.

I'm not a big fan of robocalls, but a robocall from Nancy Boyda's office asking me what I think would be more than I (or anyone else) ever got from Jim Ryun, and he was in office for 10 years. If she wasn't conducting these surveys, this space would be used to criticize her for not being in touch with her district.

Speaking of not following through, Boyda made earmarks a major campaign issue in 2006, but has repeatedly failed to live up to her end of the bargain. She stated, "The earmark process has been abused in the past. Members of Congress have set aside funds for programs that turned out to personally benefit them." Yet this year, she has submitted $48 million in special earmark requests; we'll leave it to your good judgment whether her millions in earmarks "personally benefit" Mrs. Boyda.

Careful Christian, we now know that Todd Tiahrt, Sam Brownback, Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts all handed out more money in earmarks this year than did Nancy Boyda, and since Boyda is the only one on that list who makes her earmark requests public on her web site, this probably isn't a fight you want to start.

Thankfully, change is coming to Washington and you can be a part of it. Click here to contribute to the KS GOP and help us keep this liberal Democrat accountable.

Dennis Moore

Dennis is known for saying one thing in his district and voting the other way in Washington, DC. Most recently, he has been practicing this bad habit with two crucial pieces of legislation—FISA and the SAVE Act (immigration reform).

First, Dennis Moore promised to support a bipartisan Senate bill that would have protected those who helped protect America after 9/11 but then voted with Nancy Pelosi to block this bipartisan legislation and passed a bill that not only fails to protect those who have helped America fight terrorists but allows for a massive pay off to powerful special interests like the trial Lawyers.

The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted Moore's double-cross on this important issue. To read the whole story click here.

Wow, after Nancy Boyda shoved this argument where the sun don't shine, they've moved on to Dennis Moore. Well guess what, the facts don't change regardless of who is on the receiving end of your baseless attacks. See this factcheck piece in Newsweek.

And then there is immigration reform. Moore states that he supports "...strong reforms that will improve our border security and make our immigration policies more realistic, enforceable, and complimentary to the global economy we live in...." however, he is standing in the way of meaningful reform by blocking the SAVE Act (Secure America with Verification and Enforcement) which would improve border security and boost immigration law enforcement.

It is clear that Dennis Moore has become part of the broken system in Washington that is failing us. It is time for a change.

I wonder why they haven't attacked Nancy Boyda on immigration...oh right, it's because she's already done more to address the issue than Jim Ryun managed in his entire 10 years in Congress. Although, I think I've done more to combat illegal immigration since I started writing this post than Jim Ryun ever did. Look, the fact of the matter is that Nick Jordan is a massive tool. Why they even bother wasting their time on this race is beyond me. Maybe it's just sour grapes on the part of Kris Kobach since Dennis Moore trounced him by double figures.

Apparently though, they have nothing to say in support of Todd Tiahrt or Pat Roberts.

Since they're using these lies and fabrications as a fundraising tool, lets hit'm right back. Below are the web sites for our federal candidates. Support them in any way you can, whether it's volunteering, donating $5 or donating $2,300. We've done well in 2006 and our situation is looking pretty strong again, but we're always up against a staggering registration advantage, so complacency is not an option.

Jim Slattery

Lee Jones

Donald Betts

Dennis Moore

Nancy Boyda

Kansas Democratic Party

Kind of makes me wish she hadn't been fired...

Idle hands = Intelligent Design

Sometimes in Kansas we forget about the importance of our state school board elections.

Every couple of years, the conservatives take over the board again and do something so unbelievably absurd that it would be almost comical if the consequences weren't so real.

After moderate (read: sane) voices took over the board once again in 2006, we run the risk of it happening once again.

Though we were able to throw at corrupt wackos like Connie Morris and sack anti-public school voucherfile Bob Corkins, unless Kansas' voters are again shown what is at stake, we run the risk of doing it again.

With moderate Republican Sue Gamble opting to run for the State Senate instead of another term on the school board and Democrat Bill Wagnon (Democrat Carolyn Campbell - a former president of Topeka USD 501 BOE - has filed to run in this district) opting not to run again, we now have two open seats that were once held by moderates.

Though those seats, in Topeka and Johnson County, should be relatively safe from the grasps of conservatives, the seat of nut-job, anti-evolutuion, anti-sexual education Kathy Martin needs to be reclaimed.

Martin, who is from Clay Center, represents a large district which includes Salina, Manhattan and much of North-Central Kansas.

What can you do to prevent this from happening?

For starters, you can head over to Kansas Families United for Public Education's web site. Become a member and donate to their cause.

Second, if you live in districts 2 (parts of Johnson County), 6 (Manhattan, Salina, Atchison, etc) or 10 (SW Sedgwick County, Sumner County, Butler County, Cowley County) and care about public education. Run for the school board!

If it looks like a Bush and quacks like a Bush....

It's starting to look like the "Straight-Talk Express" has a couple of flat tires.

We already knew most of McCain's campaign staff were lobbyists, but the Associated Press is reporting that two staff members and a volunteer on his campaign have worked or currently work as lobbyists for European Aeronautic Defense & Space, who's French subsidiary AirBus won a $35 Billion (with a B) contract to build airplanes for the United States Air Force.

Yes, the very same decision that will in all likelihood deal a crippling blow to the local economy in Wichita .

The AP story reports that:

Top current advisers to Senator John McCain's presidential campaign last
year lobbied for European Aeronautic Defense & Space bid that beat Boeing to a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract, taking sides in a bidding fight that McCain has tried to referee for more than five years.

Two of the advisers gave up their lobbying work when they joined McCain's
campaign. A third, the former Texas Representative Tom Loeffler, lobbied for
EADS while serving as McCain's national finance chairman.

This should come as no surprise coming from the guy who was endorsed by George W. Bush, who has proven time and time again that making his friends rich is more important than the welfare of the country.

Now, McCain's team is claiming that the lobby work these individuals did for the company is not related to the tanker deal.

Do they truely want us to believe that it is purely a coincidence that two people in high-ranking positions on his campaign team and one volunteer have significant financial ties to a company that just received a $35 billion deal made possible by an amendment he wrote in 2003?

I mean honestly, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a former EADS lobbyist. I actually have EADS lobbyists doing yardwork at my house as we speak. Who ISN'T a former EADS lobbyist?

Probably not anyone on Sens. Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama's staff.

A ticking time bomb, bomb, bomb…

What’s the deal with John McCain’s temper, anyway? I mean, is it so bad that Fox feels it necessary to pat him on the head when he struggles to successfully keep it in check over mere technical difficulties?



In the video, a proud Carl Cameron notes:

“McCain makes no bones about blowing his stack occasionally and having a temper. A campaign has the capacity to test the temperament and character of a candidate. If today was a pop quiz, you got to say McCain passed.”

I mean, I’d hate to use the phrase crotchety old man, but - he’s kind of leaving himself open for that one…

It's 3 AM: Do you know who your actors are supporting?

DISCLAIMER: LEFT BRAIN KANSAS DOES NOT ENDORSE EITHER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. WE JUST FELT THIS WAS IRONIC AND WORTH SHARING.




The now infamous "3 AM" ad run in Ohio by Hillary Clinton -- largely credited with pushing the Senator over the edge in the March 4 Ohio primary -- has taken on a new wrinkle.

It seems the actress who is portrayed as the blissfully sleeping child in this commercial is actually an 18 year-old Barack Obama supporter. (If you're thinking "That girl looks like she's 8, not 18" you're absolutely right, the footage is from a 10 year-old commercial for a railroad company.)

To make things even more interesting, this is not the first such irony of this Presidential cycle. In January, Sen. Clinton had an emotional moment on the campaign trail in the days leading up to the New Hampshire primary.



Much like the Ohio commercial, many people have pointed to this incident as a major factor in her victory there.

The irony? The woman who asked the question voted for Obama the next day.

What does this mean? Most likely nothing. But this blogger finds the whole situation to be indicative of this crazy primary. Two major events which led to momentum-halting victories for one candidate involved supporters of another candidate.

But is really funny is that these supporters who ended up unwillingly leading their opponent to victory weren't making offensive statements or getting arrested. No, it was an innocent question on the campaign trail and a 10 year-old gig in a commercial.

It's a crazy world out there.

Laissez Unfaire!!!

All of a sudden, Pat Roberts, Sam Brownback and Todd Tiahrt are crying foul. After the Department of Defense decided to give the contract to construct new Air Force tankers to Northrop Grumman, meaning the new planes will be built predominantly in France, all of a sudden these legislators have decided outsourcing isn't so great after all.

Sen. Roberts and Brownback, not to mention Sen. McCain, weren't concerned about this possibility in 2003, but now that it's hitting home in their state, Brownback and Roberts have decided maybe a completely unhindered free market isn't such a good thing. McCain still doesn't care.

But what of Todd Tiahrt, he wasn't involved in that 2003 Senate amendment, but is he without blame in this situation?

Rest assured, if the deal had gone to Boeing, Rep. Tiahrt would be the first in line to take credit for swaying the DOD. It cannot be mistaken, Todd Tiahrt is a very powerful member of the House of Representatives. In fact, he was even considered for leadership positions after the 2006 elections.

Moreover, I firmly believe you can tell more from what a politician doesn't say than you can from what he or she does say. If Todd Tiahrt had done anything whatsoever to attempt to influence this decision, you can bet the farm his staff would be tripping over themselves to hold a press conference outlining each and every little email he may have sent to the Pentagon.

Ultimately, I don't think it's fair to say that the situation is Todd Tiahrt's fault. Certainly, Brownback, Roberts and McCain deserve some blame for creating a regulatory environment in which such a deal is possible, but shouldn't Tiahrt have done SOMETHING.

This seems to happen a lot with Rep. Tiahrt. He doesn't do a lot of egregious things, but he doesn't do much good either.

Write Rep. Tiahrt and tell him to start using his power for more than just bringing home earmarks and start fighting for the average Kansan.

On second thought, just donate money and/or volunteer for state Sen. Donald Betts and kill two birds with one stone.

Pot, meet kettle, Vol. 2

Ok, we're probably setting the bar a little high for ourselves on the first day, but the excriment just keeps flowing from Jim Ryun's campaign. Maybe I should just turn off my rss feed so I won't keep reading things that upset me.

Word from one of the major Republican blogs (I'm not going to post a link, they don't deserve your page views) is Jim Ryun has made a pledge to not request a single earmark if he is elected to the House of Representatives.

First off, not all "porkbarrell spending" is bad. The problem is that under the former Republican Majority (of which Jim Ryun was a member), it had gotten out of control and the projects were 1) ridiculous and 2) put into bills without any debate or even so much as a vote on the floor.

Where was this pledge during the 10 years that Jim Ryun served in the United States House of Representatives? A commenter on the above-mentioned nameless blog aptly described Jim's actions as resembling that of a recovering alcholic. "Hi, my name is Jim Ryun, and I'm addicted to porkbarrell spending."

Did Nancy Boyda request allocations during the 2007 session? Yes, she did. But she has nothing to hide. In fact, she has posted every request she made, even the ones that never made it into law.

These projects are not bridges to nowhere, they're legitimate projects requested in the open that benefit the communities of the 2nd District. Morever, Rep. Boyda has voted to issue a moratorium on further porkbarrell spending until meaningful earmark reform can be decided upon.

Rep. Ryun can make all the promises in the world in his quixotic voyage to win back his seat, but the people of the 2nd District know all to well what Jim Ryun is really about. They lived through 10 years of it.

Pot, meet kettle

From our friends over at BoydaBloc, we find a story of Jim Ryun -- JIM RYUN -- crying in his beer (*AHEM* Root Beer - alcohol is a sin against God) about Lynn Jenkins and her shady ethics. Though it wasn't the first time the legitimacy of these ads has been called into question, it was the first time Jim Ryun got involved.



It seems Mr. Robertson has a short memory. You see, Jim Ryun wasn't exactly a boy scout during his years in Congress.

He was buddy-buddy with the likes of Jack Abramhoff and Tom DeLay. So much so that he felt sorry for their plight and voted to ease ethics rules in the House and even to keep the revolving door of lobbyists and Congresspeople wide open.

He even itemized "caging" -- the illegal practice of identifying questionable voters to challenge at a later date -- on his Federal Expense reports.

We're not the only ones who noticed the hypocrisy. This video was posted at Boyda Bloc as well as Everyday Citizen.





The jury is still out on whether Lynn Jenkins' actions regarding the Learning Quest advertisements are indeed unethical, but one thing is for sure - watching Jim Ryun in his glass (town) house throwing stones is quite humorous.