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Thursday, July 24, 2008

I got you, babe

One of the most jarring moments of Tuesday night's debate between Jim Ryun and Lynn Jenkins was the one in which Lynn called Jim "babe."

It was just...weird. And markedly non-congressional.

While it was strange (like the rest of Lynn's performance), we aren't sure it really deserved this much ink:

— In what may be a first in Kansas political history, one candidate publicly called another “babe.”

It happened Tuesday in the televised debate between Lynn Jenkins and Jim Ryun, who are seeking the Republican Party nomination to face U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Topeka, in the 2nd Congressional District, which includes west Lawrence.

Jenkins said part of the reason she voted for a tax increase while a legislator was because state lawmakers had to pay for federal mandates from Congress, in which Ryun served at the time.

“We were at your mercy, babe,” she said to Ryun.

A couple of bloggers wrote that if Ryun had said “babe” to Jenkins, he would’ve been labeled a sexist.

Ryun’s campaign manager Kyle Robertson described Jenkins’ use of the term as “childish behavior.”

Pat Leopold, managing Jenkins’ campaign, said Jenkins uses “babe” frequently when talking to her friends, and that it was just an innocent slip.

It was, of course, just an innocent slip...it was still unprofessional, still tacky, and still just...weird.

Jerri Blank from Strangers with Candy weird.

Oh, and hey, lets don't forget the substance of the debate...Ryun was incompetent & Lynn Jenkins has actually raised taxes on every single Kansas family 12 separate times- making her the only candidate in the race on either side to do such a thing.

5 comments:

Kevin said...

I'm only peripherally following this race since I grew up in the 2nd district, but I distinctly remember Jenkins saying "babe" before. It's obviously just an odd verbal tick of hers and hardly precludes her from being an effective congresswoman.
Too bad for Jenkins that the 2nd already *has* an effective congresswoman. Though I wish Jenkins the best of luck - in the primary, it'd be nice if BB would stop making me defend her. Let's stick to the issues - Boyda can win by talking about her solutions to the real problems that Kansans are facing.

Anonymous said...

really ljworld? really? of ALL the things that were said in the debate and all the important issues talked about we're going to talk about a candidate's use of the word "babe"...someone please tell me what this has to do with taxes, government spending, abortion, the national debt, how any of them are going to beat nancy boyda in the fall, ANYTHING having to do with this race!? I think BB and I may actually agree on this...this was indeed a stupid waste of ink and yet another example of how the media continues to dumb down public discourse so that real issues are never talked about, hurting both republicans and democrats...

Anonymous said...

I'm deeply offended on behalf of Gerry Blank.

Anonymous said...

i got you babe..doo doo doo...doo doo doo...i got you babe...

Anonymous said...

if ryun had called her "babe" it would have been HUGE. that's why this is a story.

This blog is not affiliated in any way with the Kansas Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, the Office of Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, or the campaign to re-elected Congresswoman Nancy Boyda. All commentary herein not directly attributed must be considered the opinion of the authors of this blog and not of any other individual, including Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.