"Why Our Shift?" - Johnson County (KS) Sun endorses Dems for 1st time

[greeneyedboy]

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17284084&BRD=1459&PAG=461&dept_id=155725&rfi=8

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17284084&BRD=1459&PAG=461&dept_id=155725&rfi=8">Why Our Shift?
. . . .
As we prepare ourselves to make political endorsements in subsequent issues, I can tell you unequivocally that this newspaper has never endorsed so many Democrats. Not even close.

. . . .

This change may come as no surprise to our most cynical conservative readers who would dismiss me (and others on the editorial board) as being a moderate Republican and, therefore, the same as a Democrat. To them, there is no difference.

But the shift, frankly, shocks me, because I have pulled the lever over and over since my first vote in 1968 for Republicans. If I was a closet Democrat, I must have hidden it well, especially from myself, since I always beat up on Democrats in my columns. I have called them leftists, socialists, and every other name in the book, because I thought they were flat-out wrong.

And, for the most part, I still do. I am opposed to big government. I have little use for unions. I never liked the welfare plans. I am opposed to weak-kneed defense policies. I have always been for fiscal prudence. I think back to the policies of most Democrats, and I cringe.

So, what in the world has happened?

The Republican Party has changed, and it has changed monumentally.

You almost cannot be a victorious traditional Republican candidate with mainstream values in Johnson County or in Kansas anymore, because these candidates never get on the ballot in the general election. They lose in low turnout primaries, where the far right shows up to vote in disproportionate numbers.

To win a Republican primary, the candidate must move to the right.

What does to-the-right mean?

It means anti-public education, though claiming to support it.

It means weak support of our universities, while praising them.

It means anti-stem cell research.

It means ridiculing global warming.

It means gay bashing. Not so much gay marriage, but just bashing gays.

It means immigrant bashing. I'm talking about the viciousness.

It means putting religion in public schools. Not just prayer.

It means mocking evolution and claiming it is not science.

It means denigrating even abstinence-based sex education.

Note, I did not say it means "anti-abortion," because I do not find that position repugnant, at all. I respect that position.

But everything else adds up to priorities that have nothing to do with the Republican Party I once knew.

That's why, in the absence of so-called traditional Republican candidates, the choice comes down to right-wing Republicans or conservative Democrats.

And now you know why we have been forced to move left.
###

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17284084&BRD=1459&PAG=461&dept_id=155725&rfi=8

[flying_wahini]

1. wow, wow, wow

I have always said that the pendulum will eventually swing, even tho the fundies nailed it to the wall,
but now I believe the nail has been pulled.........

[Ecumenist]

2. Well, AMen.. Welcome to the real world

and reality.. You guys were a bit late to the party but there are still canapes and drinks left.. The party is still getting started.

[rfranklin]

9. Bartcop always said it would be the Republicans that would...

topple the Bush regime. The Democrats were too busy wetting their panties and servicing George the Lesser.

[greeneyedboy]

3. yeah, better late than never.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Never thought I'd see the day. Steve Rose has ALWAYS been an insufferable

blow hard, so obnoxious I can't even stand to watch him on Kansas City's public tv local weekly political debate show (can't remember the name as it has been sooo long since I watched it).

His Johnson County Sun publisher/late father, too. Pathetic, Republican, self-aggrandizing idiots. To hear this from Steve Rose is very similar to hearing hell has frozen over.

Absolutely better late than never! Maybe Steve will join some very prominent previous Kansas Republicans who have had to wake up and see the light in the last couple of years, who have become Democrats, including an outstanding previous prosecuting attorney, Paul Morrison, running for the State Attorney Geneneral. (Wouldn't it be cool seeing him heading up the road to replace _Bush-adoring Senator Pat Robertson one day?)

[greeneyedboy]

5. thx for the local perspective.

i'd be interested in seeing how their readership responds.

[hfojvt]

12. the trouble is, they have not become Democrats

they may be running as Democratic candidates, but they don't sound like Democrats. I have met Morrison, and he sounded good because he mostly bashed Kline, but I find his ads to be kinda sickening. I cannot get very excited about being offered a choice between two Republicans, just because one is a moderate running as a Democrat.

Dennis Moore, although I am not in his district, seems the same way. Sounds like a Republican in his ads, and on some of his votes - he voted for the torture bill, for Medicare Part D, etc.

Rose seems off track here too. I heard that moderates won big in the last Republican primary. I am not sure if I have heard very many Republican candidates doing what Rose claimed. Perhaps he has been spending too much time of Free Republic and he thinks that all Republicans are like that.

[femrap]

15. Great, now moderate repugnants are going to take

over the Democratic Party. And don't think Hillary and the DLC haven't figured this out already.

[tblue37]

6. Notice that he still manages to slam the Dems with every false meme

that has been glued to them by the Republican echo chamber.

[WildEyedLiberal]

7. Yeah, I know. I think I'll hold my applause

Granted, if he's voting Dem, and convinces others to vote Dem, it's a good thing. But he's hardly had an epiphany. Why is he against unions? Does he hate the 40 hour work week and minimum wage? "Weak-kneed defense policies"? You mean NOT invading countries that never attacked us? :eyes:

At least he's sort of sane, and realizes that the GOP is fucked up.

[greeneyedboy]

8. if he gets Republicans to look at where the GOP has gone, i won't complain

[femrap]

16. And of course he loves Compulsory Motherhood....

wonder how he feels about rapists having rights to fatherhood? What a piece of scum...he got tired of 'his kind' losing power to others.

[mnhtnbb]

10. Good grief. But will anybody listen? Remember, all the editorial

boards that shifted from supporting Bush to endorsing Kerry?

I'll believe it when the votes are counted.

[Sirveri]

11. All the votes are counted by Diebold though.

So it's not like that will tell you anything.

[civildisoBDence]

13. The enemy of my enemy is my friend (at least for the time being.)

World Net Daily, at the far right of the spectrum, has turned against DUHbya and is starting to turn against the Republicans as well...

Newsprism--news and commentary, left to right

[Hawaii Hiker]

14. Good editorial

And he's right, the republican party has gone WAY to the right, there's not much of a center anymore w/them, just the radical christian fundamentalists....

[Shadowen]

18. What's that old saw?

Politics makes for strange bedfellows?

I have a feeling it will make a comeback in the popular lexicon after the 7th...

[mkb]

17. This Is A Sign Of Progress, I Think

     There are a multitude of reasons things happen, and why
people do what they do, and I urge fair-minded people to
continue to do the best that they can to make sense of things.
     The fact as I've stated before, that "Men Are Really
Scurrilous" can give you clues as to how things work and
why, it should inspire people to do the best that they can in
this difficult world.  The general impression I take is that
the support for Democrats is very complex, but still in my
opinion something that is overall a good thing.
     It is important to try to make the best of things, as
life usually changes for most of us, if not all of us, much of
the time.  I think we should start with things we understand
the most and work from there, and not get too down if things
don't go well.  This can be hard, because there are many
challenges and problems to work out, and we can never be sure
of what life will bring us.
     For the time being, I am going to focus my writing on
hoping for a Democratic victory in the elections and hope to
expand people's understanding in the future, even though
people with power can restrict what is said.  Let's think
things through about the risks and rewards of what we do, and
hope for things to improve, even though we must prepare for
difficulty.  I believe there will be no shortage of things to
do for people working for a better world, and unfortunately,
we must be prepared for setbacks and changes that we don't
like.  Getting discouraged can cause you to not give your
best, and is depressing as well, so I hope people can be
well-adjusted no matter what happens.  Good Luck.