I wrote a story a few months back for Governing about the rise of the right in Kansas, arguing that recent events and better organizing have helped conservatives take the upper hand in their decade-long battle with the moderates who had long dominated the Kansas GOP and state politics.
I asked some of the moderates who admitted their side was losing power in the party why they didn't just join the Democrats. After all, huge numbers of conservative Democrats who felt their party had grown too liberal have become Republicans, particularly in the South.
The moderates were offended that I'd even raised the idea, saying whatever differences they might have with their conservative brethren paled in comparison with their disdain for a Democratic agenda driven by unions and trial lawyers. At the same time, however, they conceded that some conservatives were simply too far out for them to support. That's why there's been a bitter GOP primary for just about every important office in the last few cycles and why a Democrat is governor of an otherwise solidly Republican state.
paul2-2.jpgIt seemed likely, given the conditions, that some of the moderates would become Democrats in name--not just in voting habits. That finally has happened with today's announcement by Paul Morrison (pictured here), who has served as the Republican district attorney in Johnson County for 16 years, that he's switching to the Democratic Party to run next year against state Attorney General Phill Kline.
Kline may not be vulnerable, but he is a natural target for this type of attack. He's one of the most ardent conservatives in the Kansas GOP, a victor in primary fights for Congress and the AG's office, and a lightning rod for moderates who dislike his investigation into abortion clinic records. Kline also happens to be the only conservative Republican who now holds statewide office.
And it's natural that a party-switcher challenge would be launched out of Johnson County. The Kansas City suburban area is the richest jurisdiction in the state, a major source of votes and the most important lingering local battleground between conservatives, whose numbers are growing south of I-35, and moderates for whom the northern county remains their major statewide base.
Moderates and conservatives have fought each other for years within Republican ranks because the GOP was the only viable avenue to power. Now that conservatives control the party, it was inevitable that at least some moderates would turn elsewhere.
