Jilka claims pro-life label, refuses to back down on Obama Care

At a Salina candidate forum, Democrat Alan Jilka continued to claim a pro-life title while defending one of the most pro-abortion administrations the country has ever seen.

Jilka showed that he's clearly detached himself from reality, going so far to claim he was, "the only pro-life candidate in this race." Amazing? You bet when your Republican opponent is Sen. Tim Huelskamp.

Jilka has been trying to gain traction since the beginning of the race. A recent Survey USA poll showed Jilka struggling to gain even a quarter of the votes across the district.

At the forum, Jilka once again expressed his support for Obama Care, even though according to him, it wasn't perfect. Of course, what Jilka seems to not understand is that it was his party that had control of not only the Congress, but the Presidency as well. Shouldn't the public expect a perfect bill from your party when they are solely in control?

And in case you missed it, Jilka is finally racking up some endorsements of his own, most notably from somebody named Sebelius. Oh, yea, as in HHS Obama Care enforcer lore.

Democratic candidate sued for sexual advances

In the big first district there's little reason to discuss the Democratic candidate because, well, let's be honest, whoever it is doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning. But I did run across an interesting story in the Salina Journal that outlines a federal lawsuit against the only Democrat running in the big first so far, Alan Jilka, that I thought should be mentioned.

The lawsuit alleges that Jilka fired the former director of the Salina Housing Authority because she refused Jilka's sexual advances. Also named in the suit are the Housing Authority, the city of Salina and board members of the Housing Authority.

I don't know if there is any substance to this suit at all. It's odd that most everyone who's getting sued acted as if they didn't have a clue they might be drug into court, especially since there were also complaints filed with the Kansas Human Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. And I'll certainly be the first to say there are plenty of frivolous lawsuits out there.

But I do remember a certain Attorney General who Democrats actively recruited to run in the last statewide AG race. And I remember his opponent bringing up a very old sexual harassment lawsuit. And I remember that opponent getting pummeled for even mentioning it. And, of course, I remember little more than a year going by before the entire state learned what a creep the AG was.

So I guess I'm not sure what to think other than wondering if the Democrats have found themselves another Paul Morrison. Will Kansas Democrats rabidly defend Jilka after spending weeks on the blogs calling Republicans rapists?

I don't know, but it'll be interesting to watch.

One says goodbye, another hello

Tim Barker left the first district race yesterday with little more fanfare than a Google News Alert from the Pratt newspaper. Barker said that family obligations had become too much for him to effectively campaign. According to the Pratt Tribune article, Barker isn't endorsing anyone else in the race just yet.

As Barker says goodbye, another guy says hello. Monte Shadwick of Salina entered the race with even less fanfare than Barker left. Shadwick is a former mayor of Salina and city commissioner. He is a self described former field representative for Rep. Jerry Moran and says he want to see as little government as possible. Although the salina.com article doesn't come right out and say so, it appears he is describing himself as a conservative. Gee, not enough of those in the race, right?

More on Monte as I come across it.

Mann up

In light of the Salina Journal article on Tracey Mann, I thought my quick campaign finance search would be of interest.

Described as "conservative, but not ideologic," Mann understands agriculture and "the importance of small business to central and western Kansas" Hemmer said.

Yes, that conservative label is awfully handy isn't it? As with every other candidate so far (of course with the exception of Sen. Huelskamp), Mr. Mann doesn't have a voting record, so it's difficult to say what he'd do if elected.

However, a search of donors to state races turned up a $200 donation by Mann to Democrat Mike Slattery, son of Jim Slattery. The older Slattery got his head handed to him by Sen. Pat Roberts but Mike got elected to the statehouse as a Representative. Mann's Roeland Park address is a couple blocks from Slattery's district.

So, there you go. Conservative but not ideologic means you give money to Democrats who's dad works as a lobbyist and ran against one of the best U.S. Senators Kansas has ever had.

It used to be Republicans that financially supported Democrats were called "moderates". Now they're "conservative but not ideologic"?

I'm just curious, what does a guy running for office in Kansas have to do to be called a liberal?