Monday, December 03, 2007

Greg Orman gives Roberts a Sigh of Relief...

Despite winning an extra congressional seat, the Attorney General's office, and retaining the governorship, the Kansas Democratic Party has clearly reached the peak of their electoral success. They failed to recruit former Rep. Jim Slattery, now a D.C. lobbyist, and must now settle on what I term a "placeholder" candidate--someone who can fill the blank space next to the "D" on the state ballot, but has no chance of winning.

Greg Orman is a young Johnson County millionaire. Other blogs mentioned his failure to vote in Kansas in 2004 and 2006, his voter registration in Florida and subsequent donations from there, and his donations to Hillary Clinton, Tom Harkin, Harry Reid, and Al Franken. In fact, in an embarassement for KS Democrats, Johnson County Elections still has Mr. Orman listed as having registered as an Independent--he's not even a Democrat!

Yet no one has mentioned that Orman donated to the National Republican Congressional Committee for the past 6 years--including a donation made just in 2001. Orman also donated $250 to Taff for Congress in 2002. Are the Democrats this desparate that they have to run with an unknown, registered Independent who has only recently began to support Democratic candidates? Here is a guy who spent 6 years donating to the Republican Party and even supporting their nominee for the congressional district in KS where he now lives.

From OpenSecrets.org

ORMAN GREGORY J., LEAWOOD,KS 66209
KLT INC./EXECUTIVE
9/21/2002
$250
Taff, Adam

ORMAN, GREGORY MR., OVERLAND PARK,KS 66211
CUSTOM ENERGY/C E O
12/18/2001
$500
National Republican Congressional Cmte

Considering that KS' junior senator received 69% of the vote in 2004, Pat Roberts, who enjoys greater popularity and is well-respected by members of both parties, including many Kansas Democrats and Independents, should receive 72-75% of the vote, now that we know he faces little to no opposition. Orman may have immense personal weath to invest in a campaign, but he will likely receive a cold shoulder from western Kansans (and by that, I mean all Kansans west of Johnson County). Orman's lack of experience and unfamiliarity with the state will not sit well with Kansans.

2 comments:

Scott said...

Dude, Pat Roberts was UNOPPOSED in 2006. And STILL more than 30% of the voters said no to him. More than 30% of the people wrote in their grandma rather than voting for Pat Roberts. There wasn't even a 3rd party candidate.

Oh, and I'd hardly call a 51% approval rating overwhelming popularity. For an unknown candidate with no chance, Mr. Orman sure is getting a lot of attention from you right-wingers before he's even announced.

Scott said...

My apologies, Roberts last ran in 2002, not 2006.