"A sign of our unusual times": Republicans endorsing Democrats

[KansDem]

From Johnson County, Kansas...

In an unusual move in Johnson County politics, two longtime Republican political leaders, who served in the most recent session of the state Senate, are endorsing Democrats in the November general election to the state Senate.

John Vratil, a Republican from Leawood, and Tim Owens, a Republican from Overland Park, are lending their names to campaign literature as bona fide endorsers of Democratic candidates.

http://joco913.com/news/steve-rose-vratil-owens-back-democrats-a-sign-of-our-unusual-times/

I found this part of the article to be especially revealing:

Vratil was first elected to the state Senate in 1998 and served as the Senate vice president since 2003. He was virtually pushed into retirement by the conservative wing of the Republican Party. He was too moderate in the eyes of Gov. Sam Brownback, who let it be known Vratil would be targeted. Vratil either decided it was too stressful to serve or was concerned that he might be defeated.

Owens also was targeted in a statewide conservative-led purge of Republican moderates in the Senate.

Both claim this is not sour grapes, but that they find more in common with the Democratic candidates than they do the ultra-conservative Republicans on the ballot.

Let's hope more moderate Republicans follow the lead of Vratil and Owens.

[Dawson Leery]

1. k/r