Posted on 09/07/2014 8:54:19 AM PDT by centurion316
Labor Day week ought to start clarifying the partisan battle to control the Senate, but if anything, the picture just got muddier and the map bigger.
An afterthought all year, conservative Kansas is suddenly abuzz.
An independent candidate drove the Democrat from the race and positioned himself to consolidate discontent with three-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.
Washington-based GOP strategists are rushing to help Roberts, who's accused of sleepwalking through the race in the deeply Republican state.
If Kansas brought welcome news to Democrats, Alaska did not.
First-term Sen. Mark Begich initially was seen as running a smart campaign with excellent TV ads. But he endured withering criticism for a new type of ad, which he clumsily scrambled to remove from the airwaves.
The ad alluded to a sensational Alaska crime and accused the Republican nominee, Dan Sullivan, of being soft on criminals.
Sullivan was state attorney general at the time, but he had nothing to do with the prison sentence in question.
Critics denounced the ad, the crime victims' relatives demanded its removal, and Begich's image suddenly went from savvy campaigner to truth-shaving attacker.
Democrats acknowledge that it hurt Begich, who's running in a state that President Barack Obama lost by double digits in 2008 and 2012.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
The point is often made that Kansas is conservative. It is not, it is Republican and that is not the same thing. Kansas has been Republican ever since Missouri Democrats rode over the border and burned Lawrence. You'd be hard pressed to find a conservative in Lawrence today, but there are plenty of Republicans. They don't like to vote for Democrats although they do from time to time. The gamble is that they will vote for a faux Independent who is really a Democrat.
Conservatives will vote for Roberts, provided he can get his campaign act together and quit acting like he is entitled to the seat.
I thought the rat had been told he cannot drop out at this point?
That is just temporary until the Democrats find a judge to overturn the decision. Democrats always manage to find a judge to do their bidding.
He can drop out anytime it is just his name will remain on the ballot.
He has, by the Secretary of State who in Kansas is the senior election official. The Democrats have promised to appeal. That will be fun to watch as they will have to argue that they want the Democrat line left blank, a slap in the face to all of those Democrats who voted for Chad Taylor in the primary.
The law also requires Democrats to name a replacement if a withdrawal is approved. Since they don’t want to do that, I think that they will stall with their appeal and try to get some judge to bail them out at the last minute.
By law, ballots must be printed by 20 September in order to allow delivery to overseas military voters. You can count on Kris Kobach, the SOS, seeing to it that that happens.
If you like your senator, you can keep your senator, period.
You can be sure he’ll drop back in if he somehow wins! :-D
“I thought the rat had been told he cannot drop out at this point?”
Yes, but the RATS are “judge shopping” as this is being written.
He has dropped out, I think that Claire McCaskill had threatened to remove a couple of pieces of his anatomy if he didn’t. The whole Democrat scheme falls apart if there is a name on the Democrat line. They want Democrats, Independents, and Liberal Republicans to vote for Greg Orman, the faux Independent. It’s the only way that they get enough votes to defeat Roberts.
Taylor, the District Attorney of Shawnee County (Topeka), failed to read and comply with the law when he submitted his withdrawal letter. It doesn’t get more stupid than that.
If I read it right the other day, Orman ran as a democrat against Roberts in 2008. That needs to be in a campaign commercial by Roberts if true and often. Too many shenanigans going on behind the scenes. It’s just a crappy way to deceive Kansans to try to hold on to power in the Senate.
Oh and mind your own damn business, Claire.
CGato
This guy Babington who penned this article is an Obamabot low life!!! Ignore all he says....poor soul is braindead!!!
No, you don’t ignore what these guys say. You read it and laugh. You also read it because it tells you what these muldoons are thinking, and more importantly, what they are doing. Always remain vigilant.
Orman was one of those Liberal Republicans who were left out in the cold when the Conservatives gained control of the Kansas Republican Party. He declared himself a Democrat and ran against Roberts. That didn’t work, so he is calling himself an Independent this time around. He’s a liberal and will declare himself a Democrat again if he were to win. It will be very interesting to see the next round of polling with Taylor out of the race and Orman’s real colors revealed.
I agree with you 100%!!! I just cannot stand this moron, Babington!!! Believe me, I digest everything I can, especially the postings on the internet. I do watch cable news TV, but I never watch NBC, ABC or CBS. Why? Worthless empty suits and empty skirts!!! End of story!!!
Thanks for the clarification. Orman did admit in the recent debates that he will caucus with the party in power. That is not real leadership at all and probably a big lie. Just like the lies of all the republicans he said he had in his corner. I have no doubt Orman will caucus with the democrats no matter who controls the senate if he were to win.
BTW, the local medias covered Orman’s claim that he had a bunch of republicans in his corner but not one news story when Roberts camp exposed that many were still Robert’s supporters and turned out to be a big lie by the Orman camp.
CGato
I hope Roberts gets his @ss handed to him.
I can’t imagine that anyone would attempt to challenge your vast political knowledge, well reasoned arguments, and astonishing insights. You are such a valuable contributor to Free Republic.
Some of them were even dead, but then they have always been the Democrats best supporters.
I’m sure Judge Posner would oblige.
I'm not here to kiss party @ss and I don't follow the herd.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.