Air Force Tanker Contract Members of Congress, including in Kansas and Washington, praised Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ decision Wednesday to reopen the bidding process for a major Air Force tanker project after the Government Accountability Office identified eight flaws when the Air Force originally awarded the contract to Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., over Boeing, which has a major production plant in Wichita.”After throwing the competition to the French tanker last time, the Department of Defense seems to have acknowledged the Air Force’s mistakes and heeding the GAO’s recommendation to rebid the competition for a mid-sized tanker,” said Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan.But members of Congress say they still have concerns about the process, which should wrap up by the end of the year.In other news, in a column on Stateline.org by Louis Jacobson, about governors who are part of minority parties in their states – like Sebelius in heavily Republican Kansas – Jacobson says U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback might have a difficult time in a statewide race for governor in 2010. U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, Tiahrt and state Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, are mentioned as possible Republican candidates.Jacobson also mentioned Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, who switched to the Democratic Party in 2006 after he was a former GOP state chairman, as the potential Dem candidate.And, in a column published today at National Review Online, authors Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam say Republicans need to focus on crime prevention as a major issue to try to win the upper-middle class vote and mention pairing it with Brownback’s advocacy for prison reform.