Cracks

Cracks form under the stress of governing. The Republican Party is starting to see them. Governing shows how wide the cracks are getting in Kansas.

Kansas is a Republican state, but the GOP found it impossible to recruit a strong candidate for governor this year. While incumbent Democrat Kathleen Sebelius piles up campaign cash - she already had nearly $2 million in hand by the end of 2005 -— a field of largely unknown Republicans scrambles for the seemingly thankless job of running against her in November.

What makes a Democrat so formidable in such a conservative state? The answer is Republican fratricide. The Republican Party is so deeply and bitterly split between moderates and social conservatives that Sebelius has had plenty of room to position herself in the center, and she has done so skillfully. Her ability to reach out to Republicans unhappy with their state party's conservative bent was recently exemplified when Mark Parkinson, former chairman of the state GOP, switched parties and became her new running mate.

This was going to have to catch up with the GOP some time. The Fundies are starting to scare the Moderates and the Moderates just don't 'get' that they need to enact legislation to hasten the coming of the Rapture.

If Democrats are getting elected in Kansas because of this, I can imagine that there should be some way to get some Democrats elected all over the country. If it can turn rational, thinking Republicans into Democrats, all the better.

Kathleen Sebelius Republicans Conservatives Mark Parkinson Democrats