Posted on 12/06/2004 11:15:14 AM PST by RWR8189
Not a thing, it turns out.
Kansas is a reliable "red" state; President Bush carried it by nearly 21% in 2000 and padded his margin to nearly 26% this year. The state's rock-solid support of Mr. Bush and other conservative candidates has sent at least one of its native sons, political commentator Thomas Frank, into paroxysms of rage. In his new book, "What's the Matter With Kansas?," Mr. Frank argues that all those Jayhawk State rubes have got things backward: They've continued to vote Republican as the state goes through economic hardship, even though, by doing so, they're voting against their own economic interests. The book is a big hit with left-leaning commentators and has sold very well, making the author something of a celebrity on the talk-show circuit.
In purple prose, Mr. Frank paints a grim picture of the state and its towns. Kansas is "pretty much in a free fall," he informs us, and as a result of its economic devastation, it's "a civilization in the early stages of irreversible decay." The cause of all this decline, he says, is modern capitalism, especially as practiced by all those businessmen-Republicans. Kansas is "burning on a free-market pyre," he writes. Things are especially bad in his old hometown of Shawnee, where, during his visits, he no longer sees anyone in the streets. Instead, "heaps of rusting junk and snarling rottweilers" blight the landscape.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Hummmmmmm. Maybe you have been there recently?
I really liked Kansas except the wind and the flatness and the heat and the cold and the wet and the dry and.......
Great people, except Douglas County, but wild weather. Has WalMart destroyed all the little towns I liked so much.
The 3rd District takes up all of Johnson County, all of Wyandotte County, and a big part of Douglas. In past elections, Moore has won by taking Wyandotte and Douglas and keeping the Republican margin of victory in Johnson under 60%. In this last election, Moore took all three counties. The other day a newsradio station here mentioned that Moore had been thinking of challenging Brownback this last election, but decided not to because he didn't think he could match Brownback for funds. The radio station went on to note that Moore won reelection against "what can only be described as token opposition." I never thought I would ever hear a Republican candidate in Kansas described like that.
Gosh, how did you know?
Actually, I wasn't in Shawnee. But close enough!
No Walmart has not taken any towns out that I know of. They are everywhere. They may take out a Kmart if they go in north of the river in Topeka.
I saw most of the state and it is beautiful. Compared to Alabama it's flat though.
Just a lucky guess!
It wasn't a strong campaign by Kobach, to say the least. I'm just not sure it was his ideology that got him beat in JoCo. I know it was his ideology that beat him in Wyandotte and Douglas, though.
Whoa! Thats where I spent my childhood! Overland Park to be exact. Lived there until my early teens. Nothing but WONDERFUL memories about the place. Glad to see that Kansas is doin well :)
Some people have all the luck. You must have mountains. I have never traveled in the south, but everywhere I go this is a beautiful place. Sometimes it's a stark beauty such as parts of Arizona, but beautiful anyway.
I think that it has been conclusively proven that western Kansas is flatter than a pancake. But the Flint Hills are great, and eastern Kansas tends to be rolling hills.
Highest point in Alabama is only 2407 feet above sea level but we have places in Mobile that are 20 feet below sea level. The US is a beautiful place. I like the variations in Alabama but every state I've spent any time in had positives if you avoid the people ; )
The day can not come too soon for me when they have to leave the US itself in order to find such kidred souls. Welcome the migration out to Canada and the EU by these socialists!
More indications of the liberal left imploding.
Personally I wish Kansas was even more conservative. That way they would have a real governor, not Hillary lite.
Semper Fi
I disagree with that, although Kobach prefers to believe that was the reason. The truth is that the Republicans were divided more than usual by the particularly nasty primary. Then Kobach went and ran a really bad campaign and catered only to the conservative Republicans. In doing so he turned off the more moderate Republicans, the independents, and the moderate Democrats.
I know.
Apparently Frank used a time machine to jump ahead to the post apocalyptic era.
Or maybe in some alternative universe. Sheesh I have a couple of freinds that live in various parts of Shawnee and I have yet to see an abandoned lawnmower much less heeps of rusting junk.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
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