Ryun's Pre-Primary FEC Filing

First of our pre-primary filings:

Jim Ryun

Beginning of Period: $459,048.51
Raised: $447,382.75
Disbursements: $683,838.64
Cash on Hand: $222,592.62

Probably, too, Ryun will have spend even more between the deadline (July 15) and today.

The American Conservative: Boyda's "Walk Out"

This piece from The American Conservative dovetails nicely as a response to some of the nutsy-ness that came out of the mouths of Jim Ryun & Lynn Jenkins last night:

Last summer, I noted the numerous references to Nancy Boyda’s abrupt departure from an Armed Services Committee hearing featuring testimony from Gen. Keane. War supporters kept flogging this as evidence of antiwar Democrats’ intransigence and inflexibility in the face of new evidence. Never mind that Boyda’s frustration with administration spin on Iraq was, is, widely shared, and her gesture, while a tad dramatic, was actually appreciated in many quarters. Now Politico has dredged up the episode in its profile of five at-risk Democratic incumbents (most of whom are freshmen elected to traditionally Republican-leaning districts in ‘06) as one of the reasons why Boyda’s re-election is at risk. At the heart of this sort of analysis is a very much inside-the-Beltway assumption that someone’s opposition to the “surge” will prove to be a major liability for Democratic candidates. Just as I am doubtful that obsessing about the “surge” will aid McCain, I very much doubt that opposition to it is going to hurt House members.

One small problem that I see with Politico’s analysis is that it seems to pay no attention to the opinions of the actual people in Kansas’ 2nd District. At last glance, Boyda was leading former Rep. Jim Ryun by 17 points in a poll last month (and she was leading her alternative Republican challenger by 30), and her approval numbers were quite good. As Reid Wilson reported:

68% of respondents in her district said she was doing an excellent or good job, while just 21% had a negative impression of her job performance. 54% said they would definitely or probably vote to re-elect Boyda, while just 35% said they would give someone else a shot.

68% approval is usually a good sign that a House member is going to be returned to office. If these numbers are any indication of how Kansans are responding to Boyda’s performance, those predicting or hoping that anti-”surge” Democrats in “red” districts are going to lose because of their prominent opposition to the “surge” are going to be proven wrong.

In the end this "incident" is anicent history, and simply will not overwhelm all the good Boyda has managed to accomplish during her two years in office.

Letter to the Editor: Roberts & Ryun Both Useless

From today's Topeka Capital-Journal-

Letter: Enough of them

I am getting tired of Pat Roberts and Jim Ryun telling Kansans how they are for Kansas while their actions dictate otherwise.

For example, Sen. Roberts talks about how Jim Slattery, his opponent in the November election, is a Washington lobbyist. He fails to tell readers that Slattery still has roots here. The front page article July 11 notes Slattery still owns property here, so he comes back to Kansas often. Roberts has two condos in Virginia, land in South Carolina and a home in Dodge City. All of Slattery's property is in Kansas. Who is the real Washington insider?

Also, when Roberts runs his ad about the Boeing contract, why doesn't he mention that he voted to allow the Department of Defense to accept bids from agencies outside of the United States as long as they had some connection to this country (which Northop did).

And let's not forget about former Rep. Jim Ryun. He states he will stand by the principles he had before. Does he not remember those principles are why he was voted out the last time?

Ryun ignored veterans, the lower and middle classes and workers. I know many veterans who called his office to ask for his assistance and his response was that only when their problem reached his committee in Washington would he become involved.

Rep. Nancy Boyda has kept most of her promises since being elected, and she has made her presence known. Every congressman and congresswoman should strive to emulate her.

We cannot afford to have the same bad ideas and philosophies continue in government. We need to keep Ryun out and make sure Roberts knows how the majority of Kansans feel. I wish the true winner the best in the elections.

MICHAEL NORMAN, Topeka

Winner, Losers from Last Night's GOP Debate

Can we just say we didn't realize it was still the 4th of July? But, my, the fireworks we saw last night!

For the most part, the Lynn Jenkins vs. Jim Ryun Republican primary race has been low-key and without the significant explosions we would have expected. Sure, there have been spats and cat fights, but most of that has happened in small venues and received next to no coverage (save on this little blog). Last night's debate on KSNT Channel 27 in Topeka, however, blow the doors off the barn in terms of shear viciousness and negativity from both sides- with Ryun actually managing to come away as the more respectful of the two (hard to believe, right?).

After the contenders voiced agreement on the need to drill for more Alaskan
oil and the necessity of limiting federal spending, former U.S. Rep. Ryun dug
his spurs into Jenkins for voting a dozen times for tax increases while a member
of the Kansas Legislature. Three votes were to raise gasoline taxes, he
said.

"That's not standing up for Kansans," Ryun said.

Jenkins, the Kansas state treasurer and former member of the Kansas
House and Senate, said the core responsibility for those tax hikes often rested
with federal politicians such as Ryun who foisted billions of dollars of
unfunded mandates on states. It is that kind of leadership, she said, that
should be shunned in Washington.

"God love you Jim, I think you had your chance," Jenkins said.

"I voted the right way," Ryun replied.

"We were at your mercy, babe!" Jenkins said. "I think we did the
responsible thing. We balanced the budget."

It really is hard to do a blow-by-blow for this debate- there were just so many blows. So, instead, we're going to do a winners & losers analysis.

Loser(s)

1a. Lynn Jenkins: For many people, last night was their first
experience seeing Jenkins speak, and, we just have to say, it was jarring.
Her body language was strange, her speaking style was strange, her general
demeanor was strange. Most of the time, she came off as condescending and
down right rude and disrespectful. She got in her hits, and they were good
hits for sure- particularly making sure to point out Ryun accomplished nearly
nothing when he was in Congress- but she misjudged when she accused Ryun of
supporting amnesty because he voted to help Haitian and Cuban refugees normalize
their status (what, Lynn, you want to send them back to Communist Cuba?) and her
strange "casting yes and no votes isn't leadership" song and dance makes
all of us think she might actually believe she's running to be President and not
just a freshmen member of the minority party in the House of
Representatives.

Oh, also- Ryun's broadside on Jenkins tax increases is dooming- however
responsible Jenkins knows she was being, she raised taxes 12 times while in the
state legislature, and Ryun was masterful in speaking directly into the camera
and pointing that out again and again and again.

Probably, though, Lynn's most significant problem, outside of the whole tax
increase thing, was that fact she came across as nothing short of weird,
rude, and condescending.

1b. Jim Ryun: Jenkins hit Ryun exactly, perfectly, where he
needs hit- right on the fact that, when he was in Congress he failed the people
of Kansas. When Ryun said he tried to stave off the mortgage crisis
Jenkins said, "Some results there! We can do better." Ryun's
performance was far superior to Jenkins' without any doubt- he seemed more
poised, far less strange, and just more congressional. He dinged Jenkins
for being clueless, ("You really don't understand...") and he called her out for
spewing her ridiculous "voting isn't leadership" rhetoric.

Regardless, though, Ryun came away damaged.

Oh, one last thing- the moderators made a significant mistake letting Ryun get away with and out-and-out lie when he was talking about BRAC funding. He said, while he always worked to secure monies for Kansas BRAC project, Congresswoman Nancy Bodya actually cut funds after she took office. Look, we know we've said it before, but, please people, this old lie needs to die, because it really is nothing other than a lie. It was Ryun & his cronies that cut the funding, funding that Boyda & the new Democratic Congress managed to put back in- plus more. Please, read (again)

So, finally, our night's winner:

Winner

1. Nancy Boyda: Boyda comes away the winner if for no other reason both of her potential Republican challengers showed last night their significant vulnerabilities & that neither of them will be able to provide the voters with any reason at all to switch horses in midstream. Jenkins was right, Ryun had his shot and blew it, and Ryun was right regarding Jenkins penchant to jacking up taxes. On top of that, Jenkins clownish performance in the debate certainly didn't make her seem to be "congressional material" and while that isn't nearly as important as her total lack of a clue, it can't not come into play. Jenkins was particularly hesitant to come after Boyda directly, and while Ryun had no problem with it, he chose to hit her with a lie- so that shows you something about what we're going to see for the next several months.

All in all, last night was entertaining as all get-out...this writer is just blessing his lucky stars that he isn't a Republican.

A Trained Monkey...

Lynn Jenkins, getting more negative (and more desperate) compares Jim Ryun (and Nancy Boyda, too) to trained monkeys.



Just...wow.

What Christian Morgan Really Means: He's Scared to Death

The Kansas Republican Party is falling all over itself, clamoring to tell the world the fact the DCCC purchased ad time for Congresswoman Nancy Boyda means both that Boyda's on the brink of defeat and that it's just proof (proof, I tell you, proof!) that Boyda's beholden to House Democrats.

In the end, Christian Morgan and the KS GOP are trying desperately to get voters to ignore their real motivation behind attacking the ads: They know that, if the DCCC does indeed spend $1.2 million in the Kansas 2nd lauding Nancy Boyda's first 2 years in Congress, whoever ends up winning the primary won't stand a chance in Hell come November.

They want- and who could blame them, really?- to keep the good news about Boyda's record from the eyes and ears of the voting public. They want to do anything they can to make the ads toxic because they're not so dumb that they don't realize what 16,000 media points would do to this district.

So, what is Morgan doing? Painting this as evidence Boyda's in league with the devil herself, Nancy Pelosi, he's alluding Boyda & the House Leadership coordinated the whole thing. That's a mighty significant claim- and in making it Morgan's insinuating Boyda has broken the law, because, just like Washburn political science professor Bob Beatty said last week:

"There's nothing she can do about it. She can't even call and say, 'I don't want it.' Any involvement with third-party independent expenditures would be illegal."

Even though a candidate disavows a third party's actions or asks the group not to be involved in his or her race through a public statement, that doesn't mean the group will comply, Beatty said.

Morgan's not dumb enough to actually say what he's insinuating, because he knows it's not true: he knows Boyda isn't coordinating the ads because he knows she's not breaking the law. He's just trying to manage perceptions...a good trick that we're hoping he doesn't get away with.

Why is he so afraid of the ads the DCCC has bought? Because that much message about all the good things Boyda has done while in office will be impossible for him to cut through. The DCCC might talk about Boyda's efforts to end the Solider Tax (and lowering taxes on 150,000 of our fighting men and women). The ads could talk about Boyda's efforts to secure $80 million in federal investments into Kansas- including money for highways, police departments, and our military bases. And the ads might touch on the fact Boyda's office has helped 2,600 Kansans solve problems with federal agencies ranging from Social Security to Veterans Affairs. And they could talk about so much more...and he's scared to death they will.

Boyda has publicly said she'd rather the DCCC not invest in her race- that's certainly her prerogative. She'll, of course, run her campaign exactly as she always has, independently and free of outside influence. But, as everyone involved knows, the DCCC will run ads if they so chose, no matter how much Boyda or Christian Morgan scream- because it's illegal to coordinate the purchase- or cancellation- of a third party ad buy. The DCCC would have to decide independently to pull out- and we just dont' see that happenin'.

In the end, the straw man Morgan is trying to create here isn't the story- the story is his abject fear someone will knock down his straw man and see the ads for what they really are: An independent buy Boyda legally couldn't have anything to do with- and an independent ad buy with which the Kansas Republican Party cannot even begin to respond. It's nothing more than a ham-fisted attempt on his part pull a bait and switch on the voting public. And it just ain't gonna fly.

Good try though, Christian. Maybe next time.

Boyda: Drill Here.

The below text was sent out of Congresswoman Nancy Boyda's press office and we thought you all might be interested in reading it:

Letter to the Editor – Energy: the Great Debate

By: Congresswoman Nancy Boyda

The much needed debate about our nation's energy future has finally begun. From the rising cost of fuel to increased fertilizer prices – everyone is hurting. We all know that our country needs a comprehensive plan to address our energy future. The plan developed by Big Oil and the White House eight years ago has brought us nothing but higher fuel prices and has sent trillions of your dollars to unfriendly governments across the world.

If you've heard me talk about energy, you've heard me talk about the "three legged stool." First is conservation – the cheapest and fastest piece of this puzzle. Second is an absolute determination to break our addiction to oil through new technologies like plug-in hybrid vehicles that rely on wind, solar, nuclear, and other alternative sources. Energy prices are driven by supply and demand. We must increase energy supply and reduce oil demand with these new technologies. Third, even with alternatives and conservation, oil and gas will continue to play a significant role in our energy policy. We must use the lands currently open to drilling, like the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), and we need to invest in technologies that make it easier and more environmentally friendly to access.

As I write this, there are 68 million acres of publicly leased lands available for drilling that are not being drilled. 80 percent of the oil available on the Outer Continental Shelf is already open for drilling. Today, these leases are in place; the environmental hurdles have been cleared, but no drilling is happening. The American people want to know why. So do I.

It is Big Oil's dirty little secret – they don't have the equipment necessary to do more drilling. If we opened up the remaining 20 percent of offshore areas for drilling, there won't be new rigs available to drill in those areas for years! According to the American Petroleum Institute, in a time of increasing demand and high profits, the oil companies have not been growing their stock of drilling equipment even for the lands they currently have leases for! Unbelievable.

My mom always taught me to clean my plate before asking for more. The oil companies aren't following mom's advice. They have been collecting lease after lease but not drilling on those lands. It is time that drilling started. The high price of oil helps the oil companies and maybe this is a good business decision for them, but its killing American families, businesses and farmers.

Congress can't force the oil companies to drill, but we can pass legislation that stops hoarding of oil leases on federal lands. I voted to do just that three weeks ago, but like other important energy bills, it is opposed by the President.

As important as it is to get this right, we cannot drill our way out of this mess. America uses 24 percent of the world's oil yet we have only two percent of the world's oil reserves. We must be aggressive about conservation and alternatives to oil. We must break our addiction to foreign oil and stop importing more than 70 percent of our oil. We must harness the ingenuity of our scientists and entrepreneurs to discover and make new technologies work. After all, if we can put a man on the moon, we can break our dependence on foreign oil. Only by breaking this dependence will we be able to restore our economy and hope in the future.

Nancy Boyda

Member of Congress

Letter to the Editor: Ryun Was Worthless

Also from Sunday's Cap-J:

Letter: Twisting the Facts

The Ryun campaign must believe voters have short memories, or it wouldn't be airing the recent ad claiming that the former congressman was instrumental in securing BRAC money for Forts Riley and Leavenworth.

The truth is that Ryun and the Republican-controlled Congress in 2006 were responsible for eliminating the BRAC funding for the two military installations because they failed to pass a budget that fall. The continuing resolution that they did pass held all funding at previous levels, which threw out the BRAC budget additions.

It wasn't until the new Congress took office in 2007 that BRAC funding for the two Kansas facilities was reinstated — through the hard work and perseverance of newly elected Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, a member of the House Armed Services committee.

Since the day after her election — when she went to Parsons to attend a BRAC meeting for their ammunition plant — to now, Boyda has been a strong and determined advocate for the military in Kansas and for veterans across the country.

If we can't count on the Ryun campaign to be honest in its advertising, can we expect anything different back in Washington?

JAN GARTON, Manhattan

Here, here!

Driving at Her Own Expense

A strange little puff piece in the Topeka Capital Journal today about our Members of Congress and who is paying for their travel- the Kansas delegation doesn't take advantage of a rule that would allow them to get free rides- but good press is good press, right?

Rep. Nancy Boyda doesn't accept the federal mileage reimbursement when she drives her own car for official use, much less use taxpayer's money for leasing a car, said spokesman Thomas Seay.

"Our aim is to run our office as effectively as possible," Seay said.

Just another savings brought to you by Nancy Boyda (no, we don't know what Ryun did for a car when he was in office...we'd imagine he wasn't dumb enough to have the taxpayers pay for one...but does anyone know for sure?)

"Get the Heck Out of My Race"

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda has done exactly what anyone who has spent any time looking at this race expected her to do- she's now said publicly she doesn't want the DCCC to spent any money in the Kansas 2nd on her behalf.

Rep. Nancy Boyda says she wants the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other third-party organizations making independent expenditures to political campaigns to keep out of the 2nd Congressional District race in Kansas.

"I am asking the DCCC to get the heck out of my race," she said Friday.

Christian "I'm a twit" Morgan from the KS GOP has taken credit for Boyda's statement, which is beyond arrogant, and, in the end, shows how disconnected he really is from reality in his own backyard. Boyda, who already declined to participate in the DCCC's Frontline fundraising programs for freshmen has made it very, very clear she doesn't want the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to get in the middle of her race for Congress.

As to the always- present discussion of "Well, of course she says she doesn't want it, but, really, of course she's telling them to go ahead behind the scenes," Boyda & Washburn political science professor Bob Beatty do a good job breaking that argument into tiny little pieces:

Boyda said she hasn't had any contact with the DCCC in regard to her campaign and to do so would be in violation of election laws.

"I certainly haven't accepted any money," she said.

Bob Beatty, associate professor of political science at Washburn University, said Boyda and other candidates targeted by the DCCC and other third parties are in a tough spot.

"There's nothing she can do about it. She can't even call and say, 'I don't want it,' " Beatty said, explaining any involvement with third-party independent expenditures would be illegal.

Even though a candidate disavows a third party's actions or asks the group not to be involved in his or her race through a public statement, that doesn't mean the group will comply, Beatty said.

"(Morgan's) argument is very simple when, with most things in life, it's much more nuanced," he said.

Ah, poor Christian. Too thick to actually get the nuances of election law. Perhaps that's why the GOP is doing so poorly in Kansas...how did Jim Barnett fair, Chris?

Our guess? Boyda's request of the DCCC will arrive to deaf ears- they're going to spend their money where ever they please, and in districts in which they think it's going to do the most good- regardless of what the individual candidates say. It happens on both sides- after all, John McCain has asked the GOP to take certain commercials down that attack Michelle Obama, but he's been ignored. Look for the DCCC to ignore Boyda, too.

Letter to the Editor: Ryun a Dud

From today's Topeka Capital-Journal:

A Record of Helping

I'm responding to the letter from Joe White of Denison regarding Nancy Boyda. I worked for Rep. Boyda during the last election. I got to know her well and saw her deep concern for the problems we have in Kansas and the nation.

She visited Fort Riley and went to hear the concerns at Fort Leavenworth. She has gone to Iraq to see first-hand the conditions there and to visit with our soldiers from Kansas.

Has Jim Ryun shown any concern about what our soldiers are enduring in the war zone?

I've seen Jim Ryun's TV ads. I haven't seen any mention of what he has done for Kansas, or our country. His advertisement touts his running ability many years ago — showing Jim running as a young man. We all know he was a medalist during the Olympics, but this is old news. I have followed his track record in Congress (no pun intended). The way I see it, he only voted the way his peers in the Republican party told him to.

We have Rep. Nancy Boyda, who is working hard for us in Congress. Let's re-elect someone who has a real record of working for us in Washington.

FLORENE V. JOHNSON, Topeka

Wonderful letter- an a great point. Why change horses in mid-stream? Particularly for a old, brokendown racehorse...

File for Your Rebate Check!

A friendly reminder from Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (and your favorite neighborhood Democratic blog):

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) is urging Kansans who have not filed their 2007 tax returns to do so promptly. According to Internal Revenue Service figures, more than 40,000 Kansans have yet to file, meaning $12 million dollars in stimulus rebates have not been distributed in the Sunflower State.

Boyda said, "These are tough economic times. People are hurting. The stimulus rebates are not enough to turn the tide, but an average of $300 per person is enough to help put food on the table and gas in the car. I just hate to see anyone miss out on help they are rightfully due. "

Additional figures from the IRS show that 95% percent of the individuals who have unclaimed stimulus rebates are Social Security recipients. Rep. Boyda encourages people who may have elderly family members, friends or neighbors to help spread the word that it's not too late to file. Even if senior citizens haven't filed a tax return in years, they should file an IRS 1040 A form to receive their stimulus payment. Boyda said, "These are individuals on fixed incomes – people who especially need the help."

According to the IRS, millions of people are eligible but may not know it, or think it is too late to get a payment. These are certain retirees, disabled veterans and low-wage workers who normally don't file a tax return because their income is too low or nontaxable. This year, they must file to receive their stimulus payment.

While the April 15 tax filing deadline has passed, the deadline for filing for economic stimulus rebates is October 15, 2008.

For more information on the economic stimulus rebates, go to www.irs.gov or contact Rep. Boyda's offices: (Topeka: 785-234-8111, Washington D.C. 202-225-6601).

Make sure to file!

More Ad Buys from Ryun

New TV ad buy from Jim Ryun- approximately the same size as previous- almost $24,000- in Topeka & Joplin.

No word as to if this is a new spot or not (lets hope he doesn't break the law with it the same way Roberts just did with his new negative piece on Jim Slattery).

"Where is Kansas Treasurer Lynn Jenkins?"

The above question- a really, really good one, was asked last week in a piece in Roll Call (subscription required), as they struggled to explain why it is Jenkins has decided to, well, hide from the public, during her first run for the United States Congress.

In her race for the Jayhawk State’s 2nd district GOP nomination against former Rep. Jim Ryun, who was ousted in 2006, Jenkins has opted for a relatively low profile.

Although Jenkins’ fundraising has been active and fruitful, she has decided to delay airing her first television spot and dropping her first direct-mail piece until next week — just three weeks before the Aug. 5 GOP primary and roughly one week before early and absentee voting begins.

Meanwhile, Ryun has been on broadcast television in more than 70 percent of the district since mid-June, and his second ad, targeting cable television markets in counties with military bases, launched on Tuesday. His second direct-mail piece is scheduled to begin arriving in mailboxes today in the heavily rural, Republican-leaning district now held by freshman Rep. Nancy Boyda (D).

Jim's doing exactly what any sane person would expect any candidate for Congress to do- try as hard as he can to put himself in front of as many of his potential voters as possible, while Lynn, the much lesser known of the two, is focusing on....doing door-to-door herself.

Not exactly how you jump up name recognition, Lynn.

Jenkins campaign spokesman Patrick Leopold said Tuesday that he expects his candidate to make up ground — and then some — once she is “properly introduced” to 2nd district voters.

“I see an extremely tight race that we’re going to win,” Leopold said. “The reality is, everyone knows Jim Ryun, and no one is particularly fond of him.”

No kidding, Patrick. But, and we're just boggled on this point, how on Earth do they expect people to get "properly introduced" to Lynn if she never gets into their living rooms?

As to a "tight race." We don't know what polling you're looking at, kiddo, but every single poll we've seen shows you at very least 14% down- and that was the DCCC poll leaked earlier this summer.

But, go after it, folks- if you think you can close that gab without massive TV spending- go after it. It does appear there are some in your backyard that disagree with you, though.

One Republican operative based in Kansas said Jenkins’ failure to be more active on the campaign trail and in the media earlier on could be what sinks her on Aug. 5. This operative predicted that Jenkins would spend the final three weeks of the campaign attacking Ryun’s Congressional voting record but said the effort would fall short.

“They’ve had no message and no direction, and I still don’t see a direction,” this GOP insider said. “Unless they’ve found something that is going to blow everyone out of the water in the last 25 days, it’s not going to happen.”

Poor Lynn. But don't feel too bad. She is getting read to have some fancy fundraisers with fancy celebrities to help bring in the dough.

Jenkins...is set to raise money in Wichita and New York at an event headlined by former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman[.]

New York City! Well, so much for being so Kansas-focused you didn't even know there were other states, Jenkins. We should mention, of course, this is the second round of fundraisers for Lynn with Frm. Gov. Whitman...the unabashed leader of the very, very small world that is pro-choice Republicans. Good for you, Lynn! Good for you!

The article also contains just a couple of lines from Christian "I'm a Twit" Morgan, talking about how, obviously, the Kansas Republican Party is just amazingly unified and, golly gee, they're just going to rally behind whoever wins the primary and everything! (Sure Christian...just keep saying that to yourself. How many incumbent state senators have conservative primary challengers this year? Hmm?)

Jenkins' first ad buy of the cycle is supposed to start today in the Joplin, MO markets, and while we haven't seen hide nor hair of the commercial as of yet, Mr. Leopold did give us a sneak peek, so to speak:

Leopold signaled that Jenkins intends to hit Ryun for what she will claim was his failure while in Congress to address illegal immigration, high gas prices and excessive government spending.

We love that they used the word "hit." And we certainly do hope they do hit- and hard. The nastier this primary gets, the better it is for Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.

23 days.

Nation's First Autistic Congressional Page Back Home

From NPR-affiliate KCUR in Kansas City:

Kansas native Ben Berlin was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, when he was five years old. The now 16 year old just got back from Washington D.C., where he served as a Congressional Page for Kansas Congresswoman, Nancy Boyda.

Berlin: It's kind of like a once in a life time experience. It's really worthwhile, and it's a lot of fun.

The prestigious program has been around since the early 1800s. But, out of the hundreds of teenagers who are selected each year to be pages, Berlin is the first one to have an autism spectrum disorder. Boyda says he was chosen based solely on his merits, but she also says his participation is a milestone for Congress. And many disabilities advocates say his achievement will help open doors for others with disabilities. KCUR's health reporter, Elana Gordon, recently met up with Berlin and his mother, Marie, at their home in Topeka, following a news conference in his honor. Berlin says he's surprised he's been getting so much attention.

We're glad you had the opportunity, Ben- awesome memories for sure!

Social Network Battleground

Sorry to be late- but with the holiday we got a little behind on our updates. Regardless, here we are back with our weekly update of how each of our major party candidates are doing in the world of social networking.

We're tracking Facebook and MySpace only.

Candidate	# of Friends	# of Friends	# of Friends	# of Friends	# of Friends
	6/14/08	6/21/08	6/28/08	7/06/08	7/12/08
Rep. Nancy Boyda (D)
FB Profile	493	607	874	959	989
FB Page	820	847	853	872	890
FB Group	415	431	457	600	692
MySpace	1,912	1,933	1,941	1,985	2,023
Frm. Rep. Jim Ryun (R)
FB Profile	142	152	163	173	184
FB Page	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
FB Group	27	90	105	121	127
MySpace	12	13	14	14	14
Treasurer Lynn Jenkins (R)
FB Profile	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
FB Page	92	92	99	104	113
FB Group	265	266	274	273	305
MySpace	10	10	10	10	10

Growth all over the place (save the Republicans on MySpace...), and Lynn Jenkins was even able to rebound of her lose of supporters in her Facebook Group.

Something's odd though- and it's something we hadn't honestly thought about before...why are Nancy Boyda's numbers increasing so steadily, while Ryun & Jenkins aren't growing as much...yet they're in an active primary? Shouldn't we see pretty dramatic increases in numbers, if only because Ryun's up on TV?

Odd...

Remember, each week we'll indicate any up and down movement by putting increasing numbers in bold and falling numbers in italics.

Boyda on Tankers & Medicare

Snippets from press releases from Boyda's official office.

On the Senate bucking the Bush Admininstration and blocking disastorous cuts to Medicare reimbursement to doctors:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the lead of the United States House of Representatives, the Senate today voted by a wide margin (69 – 30) to pass the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA).

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) said "This is an extremely important piece of legislation. I am glad that, at the end of the day, the Senate put partisan politics aside and voted to protect health care in America."

[...]

The passage of H.R. 6331 reverses a 10.6% cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors and other providers that went into effect last week after the Senate failed to take action. It helps ensure patients' access to therapy services and protects pathology laboratories and ambulance service in rural areas.

Senator Sam Brownback voted against it- again- and the President has previously promised to veto the legislation.

On the Pentagon's decision to reopen bids on the Air Force's new tanker:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) issued the following statement in the wake of today's announcement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to reopen the bidding process for a $35 million tanker contract:

"I am so pleased the Pentagon has decided to heed the decision of the Government Accountability Office and reopen bidding for the tanker contract. This is the right thing to do. I have said from the beginning that it just makes no sense for America to outsource our ability to defend our nation. With every contract we send overseas, we lose our capacity to build for our own military. This concern of outsourcing our national security remains at the forefront. It is important to get this right – for the protection of our country and America's economy."

You & I aren't the only ones who should buy American.

DCCC to spend $1.2 million on TV in the KS-02

From the Associated Press & TMP, the DCCC has announced plans to spend $35 million in potentially vulnerable districts before the November election, and the Kansas 2nd is on that list.

We've just obtained from a Democratic source a long list of 31 races that the DCCC has decided to target with ads this fall -- a list that offers a glimpse into the national Dems' view of which Republican seats are ripe targets and which Dems are vulnerable.

The DCCC's list adds up to over $34 million on TV ads this September and October in 31 targeted districts, a move designed to swamp the NRCC with the Dems' huge cash advantage.

More power to them.

According to TMP Election Central, the cut for the Kansas 2nd will be $1.2 million. We will remind everyone (because the Republicans will lie about it if we don't), these are independent expenditure figures, this isn't (because it can't be) a coordinated effort with the campaign.

It's interesting, also, that the DCCC has decided to invest in the race, if only because Congresswoman Nancy Boyda declined participation in the Frontline program, which is dedicated to rasing money for potentially vulnerable members.

Every dollar that makes it harder for the Republicans to unseat Boyda makes the folks at this blog pleased.

UPDATE: And just so we are all aware...that's 16,200 points. That, my friends, is HUGE.

Tying Boyda to Obama Won't Work for the GOP

From Campaigns & Elections Magazine:

The incumbent candidate in Mississippi's 1st district congressional race is a pro-gun, pro-life, fiscal conservative-and he's the Democrat.

Therein lies the challenge for Republican Greg Davis, who is running again this fall in a re-match of the most highly publicized special election that the GOP lost this spring. In May, Democrat Travis Childers beat Davis in a district where George Bush won 62 percent of the vote in 2004. That defeat, says Davis, provides a valuable strategic lesson.

"We're going to spend more time going out there and meeting with voters and letting them know who I am, and less on the contrast ads which just didn't work," Davis says, referring to ads that tried to link Childers to presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Both Davis and the Mississippi GOP say they realize the negative ads linking Childers to Obama and the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright didn't do the trick for conservative voters in northern Mississippi.

[...]

The Mississippi race could be indicative of other congressional contests across the country in which GOP candidates will be facing off against conservative Democrats. And if Greg Davis is right, running against Obama may not work in those districts either.

In Kansas' 2^nd Congressional district, freshman incumbent Rep. Nancy Boyda is another Blue Dog Democrat likely to face a strong Republican challenger this fall. Boyda avoided an official endorsement of Sen. Obama until after he clinched the nomination, and, like Childers, Boyda has said she may not attend the convention in Denver.

In the end, Democrats have learned a lesson the Republicans learned first- run candidates that fight the district, not candidates that fight some pie-in-the-sky ideal of what a candidate should look like. Republicans did it in 1994 and took back the House. Democrats did in 2006 and did the same thing.

Dems like Childers & Boyda, who fight their districts so well, are going to be awfully hard to knock out- and the GOP knows it.

Continue with Change- Keep Boyda in Office

The supporters of Lynn Jenkins are trying to do everything they can to save her failing candidacy for Congress, including simply ignoring the fact even if she does manage to beat Jim Ryun August 5, she still will have to provide a compelling reason to elect her over Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.

In a letter to the editor that appeared in yesterday's Topeka Capital-Journal, a fellow (who doesn't even live in the district, by the way) wrote how important it is to have someone the people can see coming home and working for them represent them in Congress.

The 2nd District is hungry for someone who is visible in their towns, someone who is willing to take on the always changing political jargon of Washington.

Wow...it's almost like he's talking about Nancy Boyda...and since this man doesn't live in the Kansas 2nd, it's excusable he'd just ignore the fact Boyda has been home nearly every single weekend since she was elected, and that she's held 58 Congress on Your Corners, and that she has had more than 400 public meetings with people from all over the district. He'd know all of that, of course, if he lived in her district, or if he had seen her first newspaper insert (which should have now appeared in ever newspaper in the district).

You sure can say you don't like how she's voted on things- that's tremendously fair, because not everyone agrees 100% of the time. But something even Jim Ryun & Lynn Jenkins (and their supporters) can't deny is that Nancy Boyda has been incredibly visible & incedibly accessible during her time in office. Honest to goodness, she can't be attacked on that front with a straight face.

And, incidently, people commenting on the letter on CJOnline agree:

• Nancy Boyda is far better than Ryun or Jenkins.

• This Republican likes Boyda, so I plan to write in Nancy Boyda on my primary ballot.
  Maybe the writer in Council Grove plans to move.

• I agree. Nancy Boyda is far better than Ryun or Jenkins. Both of these candidates are career politicians and I still can't get past the fact of how many taxpayer dollars Lynn Jenkins has spent keeping her name and face in front of the public with her "public service announcement".

• We don't have to "revive" our fervor for change in Washington--it is alive and well. Nancy Boyda is part of that plan of change and has proven it over the last year and a half. We need to keep her in office and send a few more persons of change to Washington!

• I am also a Republican that will vote for Boyda. She at least takes the time to write back when I send a question to her. Ryun is just sleazy!!! He needs to go away. Jenkins so far has not impressed me with anything.

Sorry, Republicans....try again.