kansas turns purple

After a heated campaign season, Kansas has split both its statewide offices and U.S. Congressional seats right down the middle. Nancy Boyda unseated Jim Ryun in the 2nd district, and Dennis Moore crushed the wormy Chuck Ahner. Sebelius, as widely expected, held onto the governor's office, and Paul Morrison annihilated Phill Kline.

With the dust still settling, a few things are apparent:

1) Negative campaigning failed. Kline's entire campaign was dedicated to slinging mud and distorting the record of Paul Morrison. The more he did it, the more he slipped in the polls. Similarly, Jim Ryun's attempts to paint Boyda as a scary tax-raisin' librul didn't hold water. Voters aren't quite as stupid as people think.

2) The religious right has been slapped down. In such a heavily Republican state, there was a time the Operation Rescue crowd was a force to be reckoned with. That no longer appears to be the case, as moderate Republicans have shown they'll support moderate Democrats over right-wing Republicans. Kline's constant pandering to extreme pro-lifers alienated enough middle-of-the-road voters to cost him his seat. Morrison's huge margin once again shows that the religious right is a (very vocal) minority.

3) Kansas has once again shown that it isn't crazy. After years of being the butt of every political joke, Kansans have shown that we aren't idiots who support Republicans no matter what. We aren't religious fanatics who place abortion and gay marriage above all other pressing issues. We aren't luddites who want to pretend evolution didn't happen. We're sensible, moderate folks who want effective government instead of divise partisanship.

Congratulations to Congresswoman Boyda and Attorney General Morrison. May they do us proud.