Shortly after the announcement that former Republican Party Chairman Mark Parkinson had agreed to join the ticket of Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the Republican Party of Kansas issued a statement to the media titled “Is Sebelius’ Choice Insincere and Uninformed?”

Here is the text of the statement:

“Is Mark Parkinson insincere, uniformed or both? Just four years ago, Parkinson said, ‘I would say that any Republican who supports Kathleen Sebelius for governor is either insincere or uninformed,’ Parkinson said. ‘She is a left-wing liberal Democrat and no Republican in good conscience can support her.’

“Parkinson calls himself a moderate but many see this move as the showing of his true colors. ‘Mark Parkinson, obviously feels more at home with liberal Democrats than he does with Republicans. By his own words, he is either uninformed or insincere. Or third, he is simply coming out of the closet,’ said Ron Freeman, Kansas GOP Executive Director.

“The fact that Parkinson was adamantly opposed to Republicans supporting Sebelius in 2002 opens him up to being called a hypocrite. Many argue that the move will not hurt the GOP. ‘This Party has proven itself to the voters in Kansas. There’s a reason we have strong majorities in the House, the Senate and in statewide officeholders,’ said Freeman.

“He pointed out that Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, Attorney General Phill Kline, Treasurer Lynn Jenkins and Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh represent a broad spectrum of political views. But they all were elected statewide by Republicans.”