Topeka ? The public furor he’s created by trying to force two abortion clinics to turn over medical records is nothing new to Phill Kline, who inspired intense political loyalty and loathing well before he became Kansas’ attorney general.

Kline carries genuine conservative Republican credentials from a previous career as a legislator, fighting for tax cuts in the 1990s and helping to write a Kansas law restricting late-term abortions — an issue in his latest controversy.

Articulate and energetic, the 45-year-old former high school wrestler has remained on a short list of potential GOP candidates to challenge Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ re-election in 2006, despite his professed disinterest.

Some critics believe the records flap puts Kline where he likes to be, at the center of a lot of people’s attention.

“He’s throwing raw, red meat to his political base,” said Caroline McKnight, executive director of the Mainstream Coalition, a Johnson County group that frequently battles conservatives like Kline. “He’s obviously seeking a higher public profile.”

Kline says his motives are not political and notes that his investigation into child rapes and potentially illegal late-term abortions didn’t become public until the clinics filed a legal brief with the Kansas Supreme Court.

The issue, Kline said, is whether his office can examine medical records that are routinely turned over in other criminal cases.

As for running for governor, Kline said: “I just haven’t really thought about it. I doubt that I will.”

But Kline’s politics hardly have been in doubt since he began serving in the Kansas House in 1993. He used two l’s in his first name then to separate him from another, physically larger and older House member with the same name.

Kline: Clinic probe about rape, illegality (03-04-05) Kansas Supreme Court Case, Alpha and Beta Clinic vs. The Honorable Judge Richard Anderson and Attorney General Phill Kline Brief (.doc) Summary of Facts and Legal Arguments (.doc) Subpoena given to Alpha and Beta Clinics (.pdf) Transcript of court proceedings, page 1 (.pdf) Transcript of court proceedings, page 2 (.pdf) Transcript of court proceedings, page 3 (.pdf) Transcript of court proceedings, page 4 (.pdf) Transcript of court proceedings, page 5 (.pdf) Transcript of court proceedings, page 6 (.pdf) A.G. releases information despite gag order (03-04-05) Doctor’s privacy claims criticized (02-26-05) A.G. wants to search abortion records (02-25-05) Doctor subpoenaed, but not under investigation (02-23-05) Sebelius seeks clinic inquiry (02-22-05) Read more about the abortion issue

But “Little Phill,” as many colleagues called him, quickly gained his own reputation, particularly for angering moderate Republicans.

Kline is also known for his energy and tenacious campaigning. He nearly upset Democratic U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore in 2000, despite some GOP moderates’ disdain.

“People view him as being really articulate and intelligent,” said Ken Ciboski, a Wichita State University political science professor.

McKnight compared Kline with U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, of Texas. The current controversy over clinic records shows Kline “has the tendency to go off the edge,” she said.

In the mid-1990s, Kline persistently criticized then-Gov. Bill Graves, the leader of the GOP’s moderate wing, pushing Graves to enact large tax cuts when revenues boomed. In 1998, he attacked Graves for saying the late-term abortion law allowed such procedures when a woman’s mental health is in danger, not just her physical health.

This month, he had much-criticized private meetings with conservatives forming a majority on the State Board of Education. He told them he’d defend them in court if the board pursued a policy of placing stickers in science textbooks saying evolution is theory, not fact.

His latest battle began after Kline started a secret, court-supervised inquisition in October. Seeking records, he went to a judge, who issued subpoenas for 90 records of women and girls who had late-term abortions.

Those clinics went to the Supreme Court to block what they saw as a “fishing expedition.” Kline argued they were trying to thwart his investigation.

One clinic may be operated by Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, known for performing late-term procedures, though neither Tiller’s attorneys nor Kline will confirm it. Attorneys representing one clinic, “Alpha” in court records, also have issued statements for Tiller.

Tiller tried to defeat Kline in 2002, when Kline won the attorney general’s race by fewer than 4,300 votes out of 821,000 cast. In the campaign’s final days, Tiller gave a political action committee $153,000; it contributed the same amount to another PAC, which sponsored radio ads against Kline.

Kline acknowledged his politics and Tiller’s activities cause some Kansans to doubt his motives.

But he and his allies continue to emphasize his fight against child predators. Those predators, particularly ones using the Internet, are a serious problem that he said he underestimated before becoming attorney general in January 2003.

State Sen. Phil Journey, a conservative Haysville Republican, doubted Kline is looking for political advantage but acknowledged Kline is perceived as pursuing the clinic records because he opposes abortion.

Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group, said Kline doesn’t need to play to his political base because that base already is loyal.

“There’s no reason he’s showing off for our benefit,” she said.