Great Bend, Kan.- A recession is a scary time, everyone feels insecure with employment, family members loose jobs, our standard of living is threatened. The Great Depression of the 1920's was no doubt a very dark and dismal time in America. We were not sure where the country was headed, and those who were sure, did not have a very positive outlook. I just finished reading, "The Worst Hard Time", by Timothy Egan, a fantastic tale about the dustbowl.

I have always been interested in that time period, the time period of the great depression. Growing up in a small town, back in the sticks of Michigan, I was required to ask my Grandmother about it during a school project. I expected some piece of history I had not known about my family and their survival through the depression. Instead my Grandma had a simple answer. She stated, "We did not even know a depression had happened, we were always poor. The depression never left up here."

WICHITA, Kan. - The following was distributed on the Kansas Equality Coalition email list today:

Dear Friends, as many of you know, one of our Equality Coalition members, Dan Manning, is running for Kansas House of Representatives in Wichita. Originally from southern Georgia, Dan is a West Point graduate who served for 8 years in the US Army before being discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Dan has since made Kansas his home and directed his passion for serving our nation in to a campaign to serve in the state Legislature.

Dan's opponent is long-time incumbent Brenda Landwehr. Landwehr, a notorious far-right conservative, has been a vocal opponent of equal rights for gay, lesbian and transgendered Kansans. Since February, she has used Dan's sexual orientation to stir up her constituent. She has gone so far as to use language that Dan was told was "too offensive" to repeat.

This weekend, the homophobia and name-calling took a dangerous and criminal turn. Dan arrived home from work on Saturday to find a death threat attached to his front door...

GREAT BEND, Kan. - As I watched Raj Goyle's TV ad "Mailroom," about America exporting jobs overseas, I knew it was happening. Goyle was piecing together the old coalition of Wichita area voters who elected Democrat Dan Glickman to the Fourth District Congressional seat in 1976.

It's about time. When Glickman was defeated in 1994 by State Senator Todd Tiahrt, the blue collar voters, especially the culturally conservative ones, abandoned Glickman in droves. "When he voted for NAFTA and helped export our jobs overseas, I knew I couldn't continue to vote for Glickman," said one grizzled aircraft sheet worker. Eighteen years later, Raj Goyle is reminding those working class voters why they voted for Glickman in 1976, and why many rejected him in 1994.

In his 2004 interview with Bill Moyers, Thomas Frank, author of "What's the Matter With Kansas?" marvels about Wichita, a natural hotbed for working class Democrats, going Republican in 1994. Democrats allowed it to happen, and Democrats such as Raj Goyle are going back to what works.

WICHITA, Kan. - Saturday at the Wichita Hyatt, in front of a crowd of nearly 200 people  at Demofest, State Rep. Raj Goyle, candidate for Congress representing the 4th District, signed a pledge promising to work to strengthen and protect Social Security. The event came on the 75th Anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signing the bill into law.

Now some political pledges are primarily  symbolic, but some have real consequences and mark dramatic political differences. This is just such a case. Goyle's opponent, Mike Pompeo and the leadership of the national Republican party have Social Security in their crosshairs.

WICHITA, Kan. - By now, you've probably read that 4th Congressional Republican candidate Mike Pompeo was caught using Facebook and Twitter to promote a vile, racist, religiously bigoted blog attacking Democratic rival Raj Goyle.

The rest of the story is that this attack on an opponent's religion is nothing new for the Kansas GOP. Pompeo's campaign made the mistake of being crude, early, and traceable.

A little over a decade ago, Sam Brownback showed how this sort of dirty trick should be done: with a wink, late in the campaign, and with deniability.

First, to bring you up to date on the recent controversy...

TOPEKA, Kan. - We have received the latest numbers from the Kansas Secretary of State's office for the August 3rd primaries. Even though all counties have reported in, these results will not be official until certified after the state canvass. These numbers were last updated at 11:17 a.m., August 4th.

United States Senate (D) Precincts Reporting:3316 of 3316

Candidate Votes %

D-Robert A. Conroy 7,777 10%

D-David Haley 15,582 19%

D-Lisa Johnston 25,420 31%

D-Charles Schollenberger 19,226 24%

D-Patrick Wiesner 13,358 16%

United States Senate (R) Precincts Reporting:3316 of 3316

Candidate Votes %

R-Tom Little 10,099 3%

R-Robert (Bob) Londerholm 8,163 3%

R-Jerry Moran 160,624 50%

R-Todd Tiahrt 144,231 45%

United States House of Representatives 001 (R) Precincts Reporting:1323 of 1323

Candidate Votes %

R-Jim Barnett 24,649 25%

R-Sue (Holloway) Boldra 7,709 8%

R-Marck Cobb 1,727 2%

R-Tim Huelskamp 34,112 35%

R-Tracey Mann 20,763 21%

R-Rob Wasinger 9,145 9%

United States House of Representatives 002 (D) Precincts Reporting: 825 of 825

Candidate Votes %

D-Cheryl Hudspeth 9,945 44%

D-Thomas Koch 8,022 36%

D-Sean Tevis 4,536 20%

United States House of Representatives 002 (R) Precincts Reporting: 825 of 825

Candidate Votes %

R-Lynn Jenkins 40,951 57%

R-Dennis Pyle 30,736 43%

United States House of Representatives 003 (D) Precincts Reporting: 599 of 599

Candidate Votes %

D-Stephene Moore 16,539 78%

D-Thomas Scherer 4,661 22%

United States House of Representatives 003 (R) Precincts Reporting: 599 of 599

Candidate Votes %

R-Dan Gilyeat 2,510 4%

R-Dave King 810 1%

R-Garry R. Klotz 1,841 3%

R-Patricia Lightner 26,276 37%

R-Jerry M. Malone 2,059 3%

R-Craig McPherson 2,607 4%

R-John Timothy Rysavy (Rez) 1,602 2%

R-Jean Ann Uvodich 1,908 3%

R-Kevin Yoder 31,706 45%

United States House of Representatives 004 (D) Precincts Reporting: 570 of 570

Candidate Votes %

D-Raj Goyle 16,971 80%

D-Robert Tillman 4,285 20%

United States House of Representatives 004 (R) Precincts Reporting: 570 of 570

Candidate Votes %

R-Jim Anderson 10,166 13%

R-Wink Hartman 18,125 23%

R-Mike Pompeo 30,700 39%

R-Paij Rutschman 1,575 2%

R-Jean Kurtis Schodorf 18,943 24%

To see all of the state and federal races in Kansas, click here for the full page.

WICHITA, Kan. - I don't ever remember so many choices in the Kansas Democratic primary as we have this year.  There are contested races for United States Senate, Secretary of State, and the 4th Congressional District.  There has been a lot more heat and dollars spent on the GOP side, so the information for Democrats to make an informed decision has been hard to come by. For what it is worth, here are my personal recommendations.

US Senate: Charles Schollenberger is the candidate who has taken the most progressive positions on the issues.  Schollenberger, so far as I can determine, is the only candidate to openly support unions and the Employee Free Choice Act.

PRETTY PRAIRIE, Kan. - I feel very fortunate. I look at some of the more unfortunate people in our society and think, "There but for the grace of God go I." I am so thankful that I have had people delivering that grace to me in my life.

Forty years ago, as a young man, I did some very stupid things. I ended up in Federal prison. I could have easily lost my way, but I had friends and family who stood by me and helped me find a better way.

I was lucky; I had friends, family, and a farm to go back to. I remember so many acts of gracious kindness by those who welcomed me back. I had parents who loved me without question. I got a golden second chance at life.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - This November when voters head to the polls, they can choose a candidate who has demonstrated determination and desire to represent all people. Party politics aside, Kansans have a rare opportunity to send the first U.S. Senator with a doctorate in education to Washington.
Dr. Lisa Johnston

Lisa Johnston stands out among Democratic hopefuls for Tuesdays primary with a strong voice and message, as demonstrated repeatedly while traveling throughout Kansas.

There is no doubt Kansans, like so many others, are bushed from years of war, a sinking economy, and tax breaks for the wealthiest. Now, our "intelligent" elected leaders are playing high stake games in D.C. as a tool to make one party look bad for lack of accomplishment while real American's suffer further obstructions.

The reality of years of failure has set in motion a desire in voters to give incumbents the old heave-ho and replace them with commonsense politicians who will work to restore this country to its roots of greatness. The problem is, some are eager to throw out the politicians who have worked for eighteen short months and have made already a huge impact in gradually pulling our country out of recession.

WICHITA, Kan. - Conspiracy theories have always been part of politics; 9/11 Truthers, Birthers, Deathers, and John Birchers are the most recent. The question I have is, "When did kook conspiracy theories become mainstream?"

Are mainstream candidates like Kris Kobach and Tracey Mann parroting birther talking points because they themselves are birthers or because that's what the zombie masses on the right want to hear? The birther movement is either as Colorado Republican senate hopeful Ken Buck stated that the birthers are a "bunch of dumb-asses," Or, the whole birth certificate, citizenship question just far right wing code, for, "Oh my god we have a black president," and they're just smart enough to know that screaming that ends what ever shred of credibility they have.

Either way its sad to see politicians sucking up to the racist and or stupid wing of the Republican party via the birthers. And the Hutchinson News rightly rescinded its endorsement of Tracey Mann after he espoused birther views.