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TOPEKA — Now that the Kansas legislative session is over, it’s time to guess who Barack Obama, assuming he becomes the Democratic nominee for president, will pick as his vice presidential candidate.

There has been talk about Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, one of the first party leaders to endorse Obama, as a possible pick, but she is usually thought of as a longshot.

Still, Sebelius makes sense on many levels. Obviously, she’s a woman and that would add another historic touch to Obama’s run.

She’s a governor and governor’s play better in the minds of voters than legislators.

More importantly, Sebelius is a Democratic governor in a Republican state, and so has obviously pulled in significant numbers of Republican and independent voters. Heck, she flipped a former state GOP chairman — Mark Parkinson — to become a Democrat and her lieutenant governor.

An Obama-Sebelius ticket would be more appealing to moderate Republicans and independents and plays into Obama’s message of tearing down walls between voters, parties, etc.

The major drawback is that there would be little foreign policy experience in an Obama-Sebelius pairing, but that may matter little. It seems the mood of voters is to re-focus on domestic problems.

Opinions vary on success of session

(Lawrence Journal-World) — If the 2008 legislative session produced unanimity in one area, it was that most everyone was glad when it ended. Those wanting immigration reform didn’t get it; those wanting coal-fired power plants didn’t get them; and those wanting health care reform and a comprehensive energy plan — again, not this year.

Leaders opine about legislative work

(Topeka Capital-Journal) — State political leaders assigned praise and fault for the outcome of the 2008 legislative session the day after the House and Senate ended the four-month marathon.

Big issues fall

(Wichita Eagle) — Kansas lawmakers spent the 2008 session wrestling mightily with problems of national, even global scope, and their failures were nearly as big.

Pharmacy school gets bonds

For the Kansas University School of Pharmacy, the Legislature’s final budget bill was just what the doctor ordered.

(Harris News Service) — A last-ditch effort in the Legislature to allow politicians to transfer their campaign funds into a race for a different office failed to catch fire.

1. 9 May 2008 at 12:06 p.m.

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   ksharddem (Anonymous) says…

   Sebelius would be an unwise choice for VP. She has no foreign policy experience, runs a State where the budget is out-of-whack, and her gaming fight with the Wyandotte Indian Nation is going to continue to haunt her and Matt All for years to come (though they keep trying to blame Kline, who was their Pinocchio). Add that all to her inability to raise national money and the fact that her speeches sound like stereo instructions and she gets moved down the list.

   Having stated all that, I do think she would make a great Sec. of Agriculture or even Senator for Kansas.

   She is not VP material despite what that would bring to the KDP and the State in general.

2. 9 May 2008 at 1:42 p.m.

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   fletch (Anonymous) says…

   “runs a State where the budget is out-of-whack”

   The budget set by the Republican legislature…. I thought they were supposed to be fiscally conservative?

3. 9 May 2008 at 2:27 p.m.

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   ENGWOOD (Anonymous) says…

   Great!!!! get Obama's Mama the Hell out of Kansas. Thats all she has been posturing herself for anyway at the expense of Western Kansas Economic Development and the the welfare of the whole State.

4. 9 May 2008 at 6:03 p.m.

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   igby (Anonymous) says…

   There's been for the last 10 years several liberal Dems, masking as Republicans; thats the only way they could get elected.

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