State politicians hope Kansas caucuses make a difference / LJWorld.com

Archive for Thursday, January 10, 2008

January 10, 2008

Topeka — The question isn't what's the matter with Kansas, but will Kansas matter.

State politicos are hopeful that come Feb. 5, when Kansas Democrats will caucus, and Feb. 9, when Kansas Republicans caucus, that the presidential races will remain close enough for candidates to care about voters in Kansas.

"It would be nice," Joe Aistrup, head of the political science department at Kansas State University, said Wednesday. "I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of presidential candidates come to Kansas, but it depends on what takes place in the other states between now and then."

Christian Morgan, executive director of the state GOP, said Kansas could become a player in the Republican presidential sweepstakes because no front-runner has emerged after the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.

"The more the lineup changes from first to fourth, the better it looks for Kansas," Morgan said.

After Tuesday's New Hampshire primaries, candidates hit the road to slug it out in primaries in Michigan, Nevada, Florida and South Carolina before so-called Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, when voters in more than 20 states will pick a candidate.

Morgan noted that the Kansas GOP caucus will award 36 delegates. For winning the New Hampshire primary, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona received seven delegates.

Morgan said the fact that the Kansas Republican primary is on Feb. 9 - rather than the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday - may also give it more importance.

"Since we are on the 9th, it sets us apart," he said. The only other Republican caucuses that night are in Louisiana and Washington.

Those who have filed to run in the Kansas Republican caucus include former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former diplomat Alan Keyes, McCain, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson.

On Feb. 5, 32 delegates will be up for grabs when Kansas Democrats meet. But Kansas Democrats on that date will share the stage with numerous delegate-rich states, such as California, New York and New Jersey, and nearly half the voters in the country.

Still, Kansas Democratic Party officials were optimistic that the state will get some attention.

"It's a pretty close race, so every delegate will count in the end," said Jenny Davidson, communications director for the Kansas Democratic Party.

So far, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson have filed for the Kansas Democratic Party caucuses. Obama won the Iowa caucus while Clinton won the New Hampshire primary.

Aistrup said the odds are small that Kansas could be important in the Democratic Party selection process, but he added, "If Clinton and Obama continue to split, they could be neck and neck" by the time Kansas Democrats mull their selection.

Discussion

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10 January 2008
at 8:47 a.m.

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unite2revolt (Anonymous) says…

like anybody's vote anywhere matters………….
10 January 2008
at 8:53 a.m.

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freeordie (Anonymous) says…

No sh&$ unite, Check out the last two pres. elections. I'm beginning to think the only reason they want you to vote is so they can obtain the lists of voters to sell to businesses for marketing purposes. Rise up against your government.
10 January 2008
at 9:34 a.m.

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srj (Anonymous) says…

What's funny is I did not even know we had a “caucus”. I might go to one, but I have no idea where is at or what to do.
10 January 2008
at 10:36 a.m.

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jasonc_22 (Anonymous) says…

srj- if you want to vote in the Democratic caucus, their will be on location in each of the state senate districts, and their is a list on the party's web site.

if you want to vote in the republican contest, they will have one location per county, and i think they have a list on their web site, too, of all of those locations.
10 January 2008
at 10:37 a.m.

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alm77 (Anonymous) says…

srj, you have to be registered as a Rep or a Dem, but the Dems will let you register your affiliation at the caucus, I don't know if the Reps will or not.

Here's the links:

http://www.ksdp.org/supertuesday

http://ksgopcaucus.org/summary_caucus…
10 January 2008
at 1:11 p.m.

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jasonc_22 (Anonymous) says…

you have to be a registered republican by Jan. 25 to participate in the R caucus.
10 January 2008
at 1:20 p.m.

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srj (Anonymous) says…

Thanks!