This blog has no relationship to the Tim Huelskamp for Congress campaign

I have been asked to change the name of my blog so that it is clear I have no relationship to the Tim Huelskamp for Congress campaign.

Under normal circumstances, I would delete this blog now that I've started a new one, Right Kansas. However, in light of the recent hit blog against Sue Boldra, I am instead posting this last notice and keeping this blog open to protect against unwanted blogging from a certain other campaign.

Thanks for you understanding, and please visit Right Kansas!

A bit of egg on my face

Visit rightkansas.blogspot.com...

Well, I guess I have some egg on my face. Of course, I'm anonymous, so I guess I'll deal with it, right?

Anyway, imagine my surprise when I got this email.

To whom it may concern,

I am contacting you regarding your blog, Huelskampherald.blogspot.com, and I am asking that you change the name.

The name implies an affiliation with the Huelskamp campaign, which is incorrect, and so I ask that you select an alternate name to avoid any confusion. Your understanding in this matter is expected and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Brian A. Weber
Kansans for Huelskamp.

Yikes!

So, I'll be doing my best to import this blog to a new one, Right Kansas. We'll see how that goes. I'll send an email and see if I can leave HH up for a while. We'll see...

BTW, no hard feelings. I understand why Huelskamp has asked this and I'm happy to comply. So, unfortunately for everyone else in this race, I'll still be around, just at a different address!

First District Growth

The Hutchinson News has a great editorial up that you'll want to take a look at. As Wasinger and company take their strategy national, things continue to turn sour in the big first regarding carpetbaggers wanting an office with power.

Blogger wars go national

It's the joke that never dies.

Over the past couple of days, Rob Wasinger has begun reaching out to national blogs and posting his thoughts and comments there. It's difficult for me to be critical of this as more information from candidates is good and I appreciate someone willing to use new media to reach new voters.

And if that were the only motives behind the blogger bust out, I'd be fine. But there certainly seems to be an ulterior motive here, mainly, that Huelskamp hasn't rolled over and died like Wasinger's plan entailed. In fact, it looks like Huelskamp is dominating state support and been more than competitive on the national scene. That combined with an embarrassing public tie to his pro-Wasinger blog and the Boldra hit blog and suddenly a new blogger image becomes necessary.

Of course, it wouldn't be complete unless Huelskamp joined in. He now has posts up on Red State and American Spectator. Both are excellent and the Am Spec piece certainly highlights Wasinger's inability to say Sebelius is a bad choice for HHS. It's such a simple truth, one wonders why he can't spit it out.

Rob has a post up on Red State as well and has certainly gotten his blogger posse to recommend him. My favorite recommendation comes from E Pluribus Unum. I think it's because it reminds me of another bloggers name, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps my readers can help me out on that one. ;)

Mann up

In light of the Salina Journal article on Tracey Mann, I thought my quick campaign finance search would be of interest.

Described as "conservative, but not ideologic," Mann understands agriculture and "the importance of small business to central and western Kansas" Hemmer said.

Yes, that conservative label is awfully handy isn't it? As with every other candidate so far (of course with the exception of Sen. Huelskamp), Mr. Mann doesn't have a voting record, so it's difficult to say what he'd do if elected.

However, a search of donors to state races turned up a $200 donation by Mann to Democrat Mike Slattery, son of Jim Slattery. The older Slattery got his head handed to him by Sen. Pat Roberts but Mike got elected to the statehouse as a Representative. Mann's Roeland Park address is a couple blocks from Slattery's district.

So, there you go. Conservative but not ideologic means you give money to Democrats who's dad works as a lobbyist and ran against one of the best U.S. Senators Kansas has ever had.

It used to be Republicans that financially supported Democrats were called "moderates". Now they're "conservative but not ideologic"?

I'm just curious, what does a guy running for office in Kansas have to do to be called a liberal?

Kansas Jackass realizes he doesn't know jack, drops it from blog name

I had this blog post all written out and then I just couldn't help myself. So, there's my April Fool's attention getting title.

Now, as the late Paul Harvey would say, here's the rest of the story...

After learning of Sen. Tom Coburn's endorsement of Rep. Jerry Moran, I began to ponder why the race between Rep. Moran and Rep. Todd Tiahrt has thus far been civil and obedient in comparison to the first district primary. I think several differences stand out.

First, the race seems to be more personality based than issue based. Now, that's not to say there aren't differences in votes. Most recently, the two split on taxing AIG bonuses. Another vote that stands out in my mind is SCHIP, which Moran supported and Tiahrt opposed.

But in general, both are well accepted, both have conservative voting records and both will be accepted by the Republican voters when the general election comes around in 2010. A decision on who to vote for, so far, seems to be mainly based on how fiery of a politician you want in Washington.

That hasn't been the case in the big first. Without question the biggest issue so far has been abortion. That, of course, was precipitated by Rob Wasinger's early corralling of national pro-life endorsements (kind of.) But one has to wonder how or even why those folks made an endorsement of one pro-lifer over another nearly two years out from an election and with no input from pro-life forces here in Kansas? What did Rob say to get them so riled up they'd push one candidate over another candidate they've never met, in a state they've probably never visited?

In short, it's the perception by Wasinger that Huelskamp is vile. At his core, I don't believe Rob thinks Huelskamp is "pro-life enough." Just like I don't think Rob believes Huelskamp will be effective. Just like I don't think Rob believes Huelskamp is fiscally conservative.

It's of course all based on Rob's own crazy ideas. The record tells a very different story.

Sen. Huelskamp has been a leader in the pro-life community for over a decade and has never compromised to be popular. Wasinger on the other hand has yet to publicly comment on his position of Sebelius as HHS leader. Huelskamp didn't wait to test the political winds or to find out what is popular, or even check her tax returns. No, Sen. Huelskamp did what was right and stated the truth.

Sen. Huelskamp has been a leader when it comes to open government. And effective too. Thanks to Senator Huelskamp, KanView was established as a first of its kind public information portal.

And finally, Sen. Huelskamp has the highest lifetime voting records of any Senator in the Kansas Senate. That includes over a decade of votes. It's the most impressive credential in regard to taxpayer protections I've ever seen.

And Rob's record? So far it's signing campaign promises he has no intention of keeping.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, another fine new resident of the first district wants to be called Congressman. Tracey Mann bought a house in Salina on Jan. 26 and just recently changed his voter registration to Salina after having voted in Johnson County in the 2008 elections.

So, one up for Rob, he actually voted in Nov. '08 in Hays. Of course, he never voted in the first district or even Kansas before then, but hey, throw the guy a bone, right?

Mann's gotten some coverage but it hasn't been to great so far. Here's a google search.

Huelskamp continues to fight for 2nd amendment rights, defund PP

It's easy to see why Kansans for Life decided to endorse Sen. Huelskamp.

An amendment was successfully adopted by the Kansas Senate that would de-fund Planned Parenthood in Kansas during the next budget year. Although the amendment still faces several hurdles, mainly pro-abortion Gov. Sebelius, the amendment just goes to show the strength and courage Sen. Huelskamp has to attack even the mightiest of the abortion industry.

At the same time, Sen. Huelskamp was also fighting Kansan's right to bear arms. SCR 1611 would allow the people to decide if an individuals right to bear arms should be included in the state constitution.

I continue to be amazed at how efficiently Sen. Huelskamp is able to move his priorities forward in the Kansas Senate and at his success on not just one issue, but many. His ability to produce results and not hyperbole is certainly an issue that I hope will be raised as the campaign drags on.

For me personally, I appreciate someone who follows through on past promises. As I mentioned back in December, Sen. Huelskamp said he would target Planned Parenthood funding, and he's now followed through. That's certainly refreshing given what we're used to seeing in Topeka, isn't it?

Also, I guess Sen. Huelskamp is now on Twitter. You can follow him @timhuelskamp. Looks as though he's a fairly regular tweeter. So if you tweet, give him a follow.

KFL endorses Huelskamp, makes life awful tough on Wasinger

While I left the country for spring break, it seems politics never takes a break anymore.

Kansans for Life took the unprecedented step of endorsing Sen. Tim Huelskamp for Congress a few days ago, which makes it, I'm sure, the earliest endorsement of a candidate in KFL history.

What makes this endorsement so interesting is Rob Wasinger's attempt in a March 10 fund raising letter to make it appear the National Right to Life committee had endorsed, or was leaning towards, endorsing him.

"Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee said I had been ‘a strong ally and key strategist in many pro-life fights in Congress."

There really seems to be no limit to the lies the Wasinger campaign is willing to tell in order to further Rob's own personal agenda of power in Washington. He's even willing to distort a fellow pro-lifers words in order to extract more money from Kansans hard earned paychecks.

So far, Rob has been unable to elicit even a penny in donations from the first congressional district. It seems that Rob's hit a wall, and when the chips were down, knowing how bad it would look to turn in another quarter of reports with no donations from the district he wants to represent, he decided instead to twist words and throw a fellow pro-lifer under the bus in order to gain the power he so desperately wants.

This desperate lie just further highlights Rob's continued inability to gain the support of Kansans in his campaign. And it just adds to the lies already told by the Wasinger campaign. Easily proven lies like telling the public he had already bought a house in Hays when in fact he had already changed his address to Cottonwood Falls. Like going on a national blog and saying I had posted something I hadn't. Like saying all of his campaign funds would be used in the first district when his campaign finance report only shows reimbursements to himself and his family. And now claiming an endorsement he's never received. What lie will the campaign tell next?

To me personally, this is just further proof of the failed strategy of the Wasinger campaign. Use unsuspecting national pro-life leaders to convince the folks back home that he's the most "pro-life" of them all and then build from there, eventually eliciting donations from people in the first district and shedding his "Washington persona."

But the problem with that strategy (or I think in Rob's case strategery) is pro-life activists in Kansas are engaged. They've been fighting the hard fights for years; they know who's friend and who's foe. They know who's been there for them when a fight needed to be fought and who threw prominent pro-lifers under the bus for their own gain. And no amount of outside influence is going to change their minds.

And that, I think, is why you're going to slowly see the Wasinger campaign implode. It won't happen overnight as I don't think he's tapped out his donors from Brownback's Presidential campaign, but as that money dries up and he becomes more desperate, you'll see more tricks just like the Doug Johnson endorsement lie. And each one will just put another nail in the coffin of his campaign.

Wasinger campaign workers, contributors are behind KS-01 and Boldra hit blog

When I started my blog, I began with just a quick google search of Rob Wasinger. I didn't know who he was or even where he was from, so I wanted to know more about him. Quite honestly, someone from Sen. Brownback's office didn't seem like they could be that bad to me.

Combining his name with Sam Brownback turned up many different results. One was a March 2008 press release from the McCain campaign naming their Catholics for McCain committee. Wasinger was named to the Steering Committee. I made note of it at the time because the release was from March 2008 and listed his home as Virginia, not Kansas.

I also did a Newsbank search for Rob Wasinger. That turned up some very interesting quotes in his position on the Catholics for McCain Committee, but not much else.

It was about that time a Google News search returned a Hutchinson News article about Wasinger and his recent move back to Hays. I also got more information from Dirt Diver Kansas and the Kansas Jackass about where exactly he lived. Before that time I knew he lived in Virginia, but not much else.

I also did a public search of Rob's voting history and found he had only voted once in Kansas, this past November. That was when I decided that while he may have worked for Sen. Brownback, he was clearly being an opportunist in moving back to Kansas just to run for public office.

At the same time, anonymous comments began appearing that claimed Wasinger had received this endorsement or that endorsement. I searched his site and could find no such evidence. I put up a post asking for evidence. Then I did a google search of "Wasinger, Pavone endorsement" and it returned a Facebook group page for Wasinger's campaign, with word for word endorsements that I had found anonymously on my blog.

They read like press releases, but they were no where to be found on Wasinger's website. The creator of the group was Billy Valentine from Franciscan University. Another quick search told me the university was located in Steubenville, Ohio.

This explains the mysterious endorsements that Wasinger would never acknowledge publicly and yet were thrown around as if they were fact. To those making the comments, they were indeed a fact, because they were involved with the Wasinger campaign.

I continued with a google search of "Valentine, Wasinger" and that returned the same Catholics for McCain page I mentioned above. Billy Valentine was on the Catholic Students for McCain committee. It also returned a result that showed Valentine was National Chairman of Students for Brownback.

A review of Wasinger's Jan. 30, 2009 campaign finance report showed a $250 contribution from Valentine. There was also a $250 donation from a Steven Valentine, a lawyer in Alexandria, VA.

Finally, the search returned a blog that Valentine wrote on frequently and was run by Franciscan University students. Steven Valentine was also listed as a contributor to the now defunct blog.

Before I go any further, there should be a discussion of the abilities and the limitations of IP address tracking.

I use a service that gathers web stats and individual hits. I pay extra for the service to give me additional information about my visitors. Part of that gathers their IP address and tells me where they are located.

The IP address that is gathered isn't from an individual computer as one might think. Actually, your internet service provider has a group of IP addresses that they use for a certain area, and an IP search will return that group of addresses rather than one specific address. So, that can be a limiting factor.

For example, when the Kansas Jackass visits and leaves a message, I can match up the time of his comment with the time of a hit that left a comment in my service. Even though he is located in Osage City, his IP tracks to Carbondale, according to my web service. That's because the internet service provider he uses has a set of IP addresses that they use for Osage City, Carbondale and Baldwin City. So if you go to another website that tracks IP addresses, some will return Carbondale, but others will return Osage City and another may return Baldwin City.

However, because that set of IP addresses is specific to those three cities, no other location will be returned besides those three cities. So, knowing an IP address can narrow a search considerably, if it's in the right area. Knowing a comment came from Kansas City or Wichita, that doesn't help as much. Knowing a comment came from Hoxie, that narrows things down considerably.

Fortunately, the locations for the IP hits I've gotten are not hard to decipher at all.

I began to receive numerous hits from an IP that resolved to Wierton, WV. That was very curious as I couldn't find any connections between Rob and West Virginia. Then I remembered the limitations of IP address tracking and sought out another site where I put in the IP address manually to find where it resolved to. My second search returned Steubenville, Ohio, just across the river from Wierton.

February 13th was an interesting day. I had posted a commentary the night before unrelated to the first district campaign, so I was rather surprised when it was chosen to attack Sen. Huelskamp rather than something I had written specifically regarding the campaign.

In any case, the barrage of comments gave me a wealth of information about where Wasinger's support was coming from.



Many of the comments were from Ohio. (The tagging of "Billy Valentine" is mine)

Another bulk of comments were from Massachusetts. These were perhaps the most devious while the others were just rather immature.

A smaller bulk were from Virginia and DC. One even came from the US Senate.

Interestingly enough, all of the comments were preceded by a visit from Rural Telephone Company in Hays. I would imagine not many people from Hays, Kansas use the Google Chrome browser, and even fewer still would visit this blog and then have a barrage of out-of-state comments appear. But, I could be wrong. (Again, the tagging of "Rob Wasinger" is mine.)

However, the most interesting comment came from a Terry Schilling at the Steubenville IP address. Another quick search told me Terry was a former student body president at Franciscan and also had received over $2,000 as an intern to Sen. Brownback.

The comment was clearly left by mistake, using his real ID rather than switching to anonymous. The comment was deleted by Schilling who then systematically went about erasing any evidence he had ever been here. Unfortunately for Schilling, even though the comment was deleted, the fact that it was left can't be deleted.

So this lead to a whole new line of searches which returned a copy of the Franciscan University school newspaper which identified seven Brownback interns during his Presidential campaign. One of them was Terry Schilling, another Billy Valentine. So, in reality, it could be any seven of them, or more likely, all of them.

I think in the end trying to nail down a specific person is pointless. Really, all that has to be done is to show the connections between these students, Rob Wasinger and the attack comments left here. So much for a clean campaign.

A bit of humor for you. This line of searches also returned the same Franciscan University blog that I mentioned before. But Terry's name wasn't there. Instead he had changed it to "Manny Rivera" but somehow forgot that he had tagged his name on previous posts.

If you follow Manny's blogger profile, you'll get the same url in your address bar as following Terry Schilling's profile from his comment left here.

So it became quite apparent from the rants left here Feb. 13 that there was certainly a more coordinated effort going on. And the hit from Hays didn't seem to indicate it was unaffiliated with the Wasinger campaign.

Next up came the YouTube videos from the First District Meeting at Kansas Days. I previously wrote about those where I partially explained the connections between KSNBC-01 and the Wasinger campaign. You'll note not a one anonymous comment after that little story.

In essence, the YouTube videos are helpful because the link left as a comment here was immediately followed by me, allowing me to be the first to view the video. This means whoever made the video left the link, otherwise I couldn't have been the first to view it. The comment was left from Steubenville, Ohio. (Again, the tagging of "Billy Valentine/Terry Schilling" is mine)

Further, those who were at the First District meeting will know the angle of the video shows it was taken from the same place the Wasinger campaign stood and watched. So, the video somehow, mysteriously, found its way from the first district meeting to Ohio. Gee, I wonder how that happened?

Next up is the uncanny ability of information from campaign finance reports only available from the Kansas Secretary of State's office showing up on KSNBC-01.

Of course, the Ohio folks would have you believe this information was sent anonymously, via their oh-so-clever anonymous tips box. So let's think that through. First, we have KS-01 stating they'll put an anonymous comment box here. That was at 12:45pm on Feb. 25th. Then we have the hit story on KS-01 at 7:44pm the same day. Am I to believe that years of campaign finance reports were anonymously submitted to KS-01 through a tiny box and reformatted into this in a matter of seven hours? Am I really to believe the graphic didn't come directly from the Wasinger campaign?

If you had any doubts, then doubt no longer. A copy of a fund raising letter was put up on March 15. Am I also to believe that jpg and adobe files can be submitted through their tiny box?

And then there is Billy Valentine going on race42008.com and saying pictures of Wasinger's children are on this blog. It's a bold face lie and is, of course, the same lie that was put up anonymously on KS-01 and not taken down. Is this where the Wasinger campaign is at? Telling flat out lies to try and win a congressional seat?

And finally, we arrive at the Boldra hit blog. As the only blog to link to the site, am I to believe they are not the ones behind it? We've seen some very prolific bloggers on the Wasinger campaign's staff. Am I to believe they are not the ones behind the shenanigans? After going on a national Republican blog and telling lies?

In the end it doesn't really matter which student is behind the two blogs, it only matters that the evidence overwhelmingly points to that group of students who have numerous ties to Rob Wasinger. In the end, all that has to be proven is that Rob is pulling the strings behind the scenes. Who's actually doing the dirty work doesn't really matter.

I think I'm beginning to understand why Sen. Brownback has refused to support Rob in his campaign. I can say with certainty it's the dirtiest campaign ever seen in Kansas history, and it's all due to the outside influence Rob has brought to the state to try and buy a House seat.

I don't think this will stop Rob or his out-of-state supporters. However, I think this does give Republican leaders in Kansas reason to pause when thinking about supporting Rob in his campaign. And in fact it already has, as Rob has yet to gain the endorsement of any group active in state politics. Are these the kind of actions you want to see in your Congressman? Many in Kansas politics are saying, "No thanks!"

So the next time you see Rob on the campaign trail, why not ask him about his KSNBC-01 blog and what has been published there. Ask him about his connections to Franciscan University and the prolific bloggers found there. Ask him if he can explain the amount of information that is finding it's way onto that blog with lightening speed. Ask him if he really meant it when he signed a clean campaign pledge or if he just signed it so he'd have cover while his out-of-state supporters did his bidding behind a thin veil of anonymity.

I doubt Rob will have many answers.

Huelskamp highlighted on Eagle blog

The Wichita Eagle editorial blog noted today Sen. Huelskamp's opposition to a plan that would consolidate Kansas counties into 13 versus the 105 the state currently has.

“Wouldn’t we just save a lot more if we eliminate them all?” — Sen. Tim Huelskamp (in photo), R-Fowler, on the proposal by Sen. Chris Steineger, D-Kansas City, to consolidate Kansas’ 105 counties into 13 supercounties

The rhetorical question highlighted the question of how far politicians should go in considering government consolidation. The only state in the union that is not further organized into counties is Alaska.

KSNBC-01, in their usual fair handed fashion, believed this to be a quote of support of eliminating all counties in Kansas. Of course, the author doesn't seem to understand that the outrageous nature of this claim not only reflects poorly on the author, but it also provides further evidence the author of KS-01 is also behind the new Sue Boldra hit blog.

The Hutchinson news has more on the Boldra blog flap.

Boldra enters Big First race and gets a Wassyngton welcome

Goodness, I step away from the computer for a couple days and everything breaks loose.

Well, there's now four people who want to replace Jerry Moran. I'm sure that's just the start. I really wouldn't be surprised to see eight or nine different candidates either get in or out by the time it's all said and done.

In any case, it would seem Team Wassyngton has learned their lesson well and put out a hit site on Sue Boldra before she ever even announced her candidacy. I'm not really sure what to make of the blog or the comments. There are a few that seem to be from Boldra supporters that say the site is a fake but they don't ever say that the claims in the post are factually wrong, so that's a little troubling.

Of course, the more posts that are put up on the blog with the same tired picture, the more it becomes obvious it's a hit blog and nothing else. I, of all people, can understand refuting something to a point and then just saying, you know, if folks can't figure out the truth from that then common sense really is dead. So maybe the Boldra people got to that point quicker than I did.

I've never been good at pretending to be something I'm not, so no liberal masquerade blogs from me. Sorry to disappoint you. (And I know there are some of you that really are disappointed!!!)

Then again, it seems Team Wassyngton isn't very good at masquerading as a liberal either... or acting like they're from Kansas for that matter.

So while I'll give dirty politics credit where it's due, I'll also note that Team Wassyngton hasn't exactly figured out that over-the-top stuff doesn't go over in Kansas, even in the blogosphere. If they would have just stopped with their first post, it might have passed by under the radar, but in typical Wassyngton fashion, they just can't help themselves. (Can you say 300 million comments in 3 minutes???)

But, I will say that at least they started the blog late Sunday night and then posted a link on KSNBC-01 early Monday morning, a whole eight hours later. They can't pretend to be a gay marriage lover, they can't seem to lose that pesky eastern accent (in writing no less), but by golly, they sure have good timing, don't they?!

Sebelius finally gets some Obama lovin'

After being an Obama groupie for over a year now, Sebelius finally got a little lovin' with an HHS nomination today.

I can't say that I'm thrilled for the governor. While I'm happy she's leaving Kansas (hell, I'd help her pack the U-Haul), she's potentially going to be in a position where she can harm not just people in Kansas but the whole nation. Her government-fits-all solutions are not what we need right now. To the rest of the nation, from the bottom of my heart, I'm so very sorry what we've given you.

On the bright side, I can't wait for the Senate confirmation hearings. I'd like to know which Senators are going to be on the committee. Even liberals have reported that her nomination was being held up because of her ties to George Tiller. I can't wait to hear some of the questions that'll be thrown to her. Kind of sucks when you don't have the Kansas press to hide behind, doesn't it?

Oh, and don't worry about that budget thing. We knew you had no idea how to clean up your own mess anyway.

Heulskamp on Stay Red Kansas

Sen. Huelskamp has a guest post on Stay Red Kansas. Stay Red is allowing all of the primary election candidates give an appeal as to why they should be elected. Go on over and give it a read. Here are a few sections I particularly liked:

My record as a Kansas conservative leader is clear and consistent: For more than a decade in the Kansas State Senate, I've been a leading advocate for fiscal responsibility, the sanctity of life, judicial restraint, private property rights, and the protection of marriage.

While a lot of politicians talk about transformational conservative leadership, few actually try it. For the last dozen years, I am proud to say I have been a leader in fighting for innovative solutions in the Kansas State Senate – and I look forward to putting that same experience to work for you in the United States Congress.

A rather boring story

Well, this is going to be rather boring, but here goes...

My blog was graced with being the first place where Wasinger supporters linked to the first Huelskamp video they put out. It was just dumb luck that I happened to be online at the time and was the first one to view the video, as you can see by the screen shots with this post.

I've never been the first person to view a video on YouTube except when I was the one loading it. So, the only way that specific link could have been posted here was if the person posting it was the one who uploaded it.

The IP address of the comment links back to Steubenville, Ohio.

This is the same IP address as the first commenter to route people to the KSNBC-01 blog. Thus, our fair and balanced Ohio friends are apparently also the ones who produced both videos.

Both video's are from the first congressional district meeting at Kansas Days and, as everyone can tell, have been heavily edited. The angle of the camera is consistent with where the Rob Wasinger supporters were standing.

On Feb. 13, there were a barrage of comments on this post. It was surprising to me that this post triggered such an outrage from Wasinger's supporters because it didn't even have anything to do with the first district race. I just thought it was something that needed to be said.

In any case, all of those came from either the Steubenville, Ohio, Virginia, Washington D.C., or Boston areas. There were two different folks from Virginia while the other locals featured one commenter each.

Most comments concerned reimbursements to Sen. Huelskamp's wife. I discovered that only reports from 2006 are available online, so someone had to have gone to the Secretary of State's office and get campaign finance reports from 1996 to 2006. How that information got into the hands of bloggers from Ohio, Virginia and Massachusetts isn't clear to me.

One hour before the comment barrage started, there was a hit from an IP address in Hays for a few minutes.

There's of course more to this than what I've put up here, but I think it's best for everyone involved, even the out-of-state Wasinger supporters, that I stop here. There's of course nothing wrong with supporting your candidate; I do it.

And really I can't complain too much about the two videos. They're editing isn't that great so it's easy to see it was selective in nature. But of course, I'd hate to see a full audio file of the first district meeting show up on the internet.

I think the only problem I would address is the person from Massachusetts that decided to attack the adoptions of Sen. Huelskamp. I don't think you're doing your candidate a service by going there.

Instead of signing a clean campaign pledge and then attempting to attack anonymously from Ohio, Rob should have just been straight and honest about his attacks. At the very least, it'd be nice if you referenced your material.

KSNBC-01 today said they endorsed Rob Wasinger. Again, rather than attacking Huelskamp in a thin veil of fairness, I'd hoped that they would just be up front and honest about who they support. I had hoped today's endorsement would clear that up, but unfortunately, it didn't.

Here at Kansas01, we set out to follow the race in a non-partisan manner. We hope that we have been true to our intent, and we hope to continue reporting the race in such a manner.

...we will continue to chronicle the race, cutting through the spin, which means that we will continue to report on developments equally.

The Hutch News has a story up about Rob's new house in Cottonwood Falls. Why he told the Hutch News in December he'd bought a house in Hays I still don't understand.

Cottonwood Falls is a great town and the Flint Hills are just gorgeous. One of the best drives you can take is from Council Grove to Cassoday on K-177.

Also, the Kansas Jackass did a story about Huelskamp working to curb card check legislation in Kansas. I'd say more about unions and why they're good and bad sometimes, but I don't have the energy today.

Strategery

I think the best of Saturday Night Live comes around every four years. It's probably the only thing that keeps them from being canceled, if you ask me.

I think one of the best one liners came from the first Bush/Gore debate of 2000.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the video of the second debate, but you may remember it. Bush had been criticized for not knowing much about foreign policy, so in an effort to remedy this, he names as many world leader names as possible. I'm so bummed I couldn't find the video, it was hilarious.

Anyway, it would seem our industrious candidate in the first has taken a lesson from the SNL playbook.

The strategery? Name as many towns in the first district as possible. And when he runs out of towns, say "Kansas" as much as possible. (pst St. Francis, Syracuse, Scott City)

Exhibit 1: Rob's most recent fund raising letter:

As the son of a truck driver who ran a dairy route stretching from Hays to Hillsboro and Hutchinson and back, I know the value of hard-earned dollar and a good day of work.

I know, they all start with 'H'. Very strange. What else starts with H that would trigger a subconscious list like that? Weird. (pst, Colby, Garden City, Medicine Lodge...)

Exhibit 2: Rob's updated website:

I am the son of two hard working parents from Hays, Kansas. We all drove back to Hays together.

Well, okay. I admit this may be more like a half an exhibit than a full one. But hey, he's kind of limited in towns he has a connection to, give him a break. What's he going to say, "Vote for me, I once had to stop for gas in Salina on the way back to Hays where I used to live with my aunt." (pst Goodland, Tribune/Greeley County, Elkhart)

Exhibit 3: Rob's updated campaign finance reports:

FEC FORM 2
STATEMENT OF CANDIDACY
FILING FEC-401797
1. Robert K Wasinger
NOTE: Address is different than previously reported
309 Oak Street
Cottonwood Falls, KS 66845-6845

This is interesting because it was filed two days after his finance report and more than a month after Wasinger told a Hutch News reporter he had already bought a house in Hays. It was also more than a month after listing his new Cottonwood Falls address for a reimbursement to himself for travel to an out of state fund raiser. (pst economic development) I guess maybe Rob was hoping no one would notice he changed his address to an empty house. (pst Emporia, McPherson, Council Grove)

Exhibit 4: Rob's new 'About' page - "Kansas" appears 25 times.

Hey, did I mention I'm from Kansas? You're from Kansas! Hey, I'm from Kansas! You know, we Kansans (who are from Kansas) should get together, Kansas, and talk about how great Kansas is, Kansas. We'll meet up, Kansas, sometime, Kansas, in Kansas, Kansas. (pst Great Bend, Hoisington, Lakin)

Exhibit 5: Very questionable judgment on this one, but here it is; attack liberals.

But I need your help to get elected to Congress. Right now, liberals are already attacking me.

Rob! Liberal is in the first district! (Kansas!) You need the votes man! Besides, I've been to Liberal. Every now and then they kind of flip out (once a year while running to be exact) but hey, a vote's a vote, right? (pst Hoxie, Bird City, Oberlin)

And of course, what strategery would be complete without turning the tables. Did you hear Huelskamp isn't from Kansas? Didn't want to come back when he was in high school? (pst Concordia, Clay Center, Glasgow)

I always say the best defense is a good offense. So I'm sure everyone will want to stay tuned this weekend when I tell you who's behind the videos you can find on KSNBC-01.

They're the unbiased, balanced ones.

(You know the only thing that would make this funnier is if I could find a widget that showed how many out of state people that check this blog are going to google maps right now to find these towns.)

Huckabee endorses Huelskamp

Well, I found some WiFi and it's a good thing I did.

"Tim Huelskamp is a rare breed of leader who boldly stands up for conservative principles -- and has a ten-year voting record to prove it."

That just part of the glowing endorsement Tim Huelskamp received earlier today from former Presidential candidate (and winner of the Kansas GOP caucus I might add) Mike Huckabee.

There's only one reason these endorsements are being made this early: money. But as I look at what's happened so far, (Thompson, Blackwell, Huckabee) it's interesting to note that Huelskamp has sought well known Washington outsiders while Wasinger has gone after those that have spent their share of time in Washington. A very smart move.

Huckabee continued with what I would call the recurring theme voters will hear from now until August 2010:

I would not be supporting Tim if he were not 100 percent Pro-Life. Tim did not tell me he was pro-life, his record did. And let me assure you that whether you're talking about fighting for lower taxes, government transparency, or protecting the 2nd Amendment, Tim Huelskamp's conservative voting record is solid.

A record. Isn't that refreshing? And not a record to run from, but a record to run to.

I am committed to doing what I can to help make sure he can bring those Kansas values to Washington, DC -- because we all know we have enough Washington values already. I hope you will join me in the fight for conservative values and support Tim Huelskamp for Congress."

So, not only does Sen. Huelskamp have more cash on hand and more Kansas donations, but he now has more prominent national endorsements (whether verified or anonymous), and thus more momentum and a better plan of attack than Rob Wasinger.

And he's now the only candidate with an endorsement that will actually translate into votes come August. The massive turnout of Kansas Republicans to vote for Mike Huckabee even though John McCain had virtually locked up the nomination should not be overlooked.

And he has a great voting record to back it all up.

That's what I call a front runner.

More here and here and here.

Happy trails!

Wow, so the state finally went broke. With Sebelius at the wheel, it was just a matter of time.

My hat's off to legislative leaders for finally standing up for what is right. I can't say that I'm any too happy to learn my return will be delayed, but this train wreck has been in the works for many, many years.

Well, it's been an eventful couple of days, but ol' farmerjoe won't be Schilling out much for the next few days. I'm off to the east coast early tomorrow morning.

I'll be meeting my HillBilly of a friend in the afternoon. He says he knows someone who works in the Senate that can get us good viewing spots, but I really doubt that. My wife plans to catch the last flight out after work to meet me for a late Valentine's Day. I don't really understand the FUSs over that holiday.

We hope to go by and see some action in the Capital. I'm thinking about trying to stop by the RCN and see what's going on at Republican headquarters. Maybe stop by Roberts or Brownback's offices, but I'd probably just end up talking to an intern.

I'll try and check in, but who knows if my hotel room will have internet or not. Last time I was there you had to pay for it. I don't think so!

Happy late Valentine's Day! And Happy Broke Kansas Day too, I think!

You know, I just don't think I pay enough taxes

Sun Publications Steve Rose is a patriot. A Joe Biden patriot.

In a Wednesday editorial, Rose blamed the state's current fiscal crisis on tax cuts over the years. And not just the cuts from last year or the year before, but all tax cuts from, well, seemingly forever.

A friend who serves in the Legislature asked the state’s research team to figure out how much all the costs of all the tax cuts have totaled since 1995. The cumulative impact on Kansas, the study finds, is a loss of $7.6 billion in revenue during that period. We are now losing about $600 million a year from tax cuts.

Of course, Steve fails to mention the 0.4% hike in the state's sales tax the last time we spent way more than we had. Since Steve fails to mention the legislator who requested the study, or really anything else about the study, I have no idea if the $600 million figure includes reductions due to the extra revenue generated by the 2002 sales tax increase. And increases in cigarette taxes. And a 83% increase in property appraisals since 1997.

Of course there are others who would say we spend too much rather than we're taxed too little. AFP-Kansas Director Derrick Sontag noted, "had we restrained spending growth to five percent since 2004, we wouldn’t be facing this budget shortfall."

However, I have a solution that everyone, liberal or conservative, can support.

I encourage the legislature to pass a law allowing anyone to voluntarily increase their tax liability. No more waiting for politicians to act. No more pleading, begging for votes to increase taxes. You can just increase your own taxes!

It's great for everyone. Steve Rose, the Kansas Jackass and others who want higher taxes and more spending can do their patriotic part.

Of course, there's been some trouble lately with Democrats paying their taxes. Maybe that's why they want tax increases, because they'll never have to pay?

Nah, I'm sure when given the opportunity to contribute even more to the government, they'll jump on board.

And because I firmly believe in leading by example, anyone who voluntarily adds to their tax liability should get their name published on a government website so everyone can see what a joy it is to give money to the government. This, in turn, will encourage others to give.

And those of us who feel that spending increases of more than 5% year in and year out are bad... well... we can just pay our required taxes and be very unpatriotic.

Barker caught funneling campaign donations

Mary Clarkin from the Hutch News has another interesting article up about the funneling of funds by Tim Barker's parents.

The Barker for Kansas campaign report showing money raised and spent during 2008 revealed the campaign returned $1,840 apiece to the candidate's parents, Patrick and Ann Barker, Pratt, because their donations exceeded federal limits.

The problem appeared to be triggered by campaign donations given by three Barker family-related firms, Barker Brothers LLC, Greengroup Ethanol LLC and Greengroup LLC. The report showed those donations in turn were reattributed to family members, so the donations were not actually given by the companies but by the family.

A corporation cannot give a campaign donation from its treasury, but must have a separate segregated fund for such donations, according to Mary Brandenberger, spokeswoman for the Federal Election Commission.

Reassigning the companies' donations to family members put Barker's parents over the $2,300 individual limit in 2008 per election cycle, thus prompting the return of excess donations.

I'm unsure why a lawyer and businessman would not be aware of the restrictions on corporate donations to his campaign.

I've been pondering over the past few weeks if Democrats would actually get a candidate for the first. I really began to wonder if they wouldn't just be happy enough with Barker. I mean, he hasn't even been a "Republican" for a year. He has a 24 year old Democrat as his Treasurer. And I've noticed comments on liberal blogs that supported him (kind of.) One was even from Bordonaro, Moran's last "challenge" in the first.

I'd have to say now though, that they will either have to find a Steve Morris to run or an actual registered Democrat.

The article also covered the other guys in the race:

Most of Wasinger's donations came from outside Kansas, while Huelskamp drew on in-state contributors

Of course I've already pointed out that Wasinger was only able to raise 3.4% of all contributions from Kansas, with nothing from the first district. That's a very sad state of affairs, although not as juicy I guess as campaign donation fraud.

Life: Imagine the Potential

A late posting I realize, but I just came across this video today and enjoyed it so much I thought I'd share it.

From catholicvote.org

NBC Sacks Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad

CHICAGO, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NBC has rejected an uplifting and positive pro-life ad submitted for its Super Bowl broadcast this Sunday. After several days of negotiations, an NBC representative in Chicago told CatholicVote.org today that NBC and the NFL are not interested in advertisements involving "political advocacy or issues."

Brian Burch, President of CatholicVote.org reacted: "There is nothing objectionable in this positive, life-affirming advertisement. We show a beautiful ultrasound, something NBC's parent company GE has done for years. We congratulate Barack Obama on becoming the first African-American President. And we simply ask people to imagine the potential of every human life."

"NBC told CatholicVote.org that they do not allow political or issue advocacy advertisements. But that's not what they told PETA," said Burch. "There's no doubt that PETA is an advocacy group. NBC rejected PETA's ad for another reason altogether."

According to an email posted on PETA.org, Victoria Morgan, Vice President of Advertising Standards for Universal, said: "The PETA spot submitted to Advertising Standards depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards." Morgan even detailed "edits that need to be made" in order for the spot to run during the Super Bowl.

"NBC claims it doesn't allow advocacy ads, but that's not true. They were willing to air an ad by PETA if they would simply tone down the sexual suggestiveness. Our ad is far less provocative, and hardly controversial by comparison," said Burch.

"The purpose of our new ad is to spread a message of hope about the potential of every human life, including the life of Barack Obama," said Burch. "We are now looking at alternative venues to run the ad over the next several weeks."

The ad aired on BET in Chicago on Inauguration Day. It has become an Internet hit with over 700,000 views in seven days. The ad was in the top 10 "most viewed" category on YouTube on Inauguration Day last week.

There's a message abortion supporters don't want to hear.

Huelskamp advocates government transparency at all levels

When it comes to government transparency, Republican's continue to lead the state in innovative, practical ideas. I'm happy to say Sen. Huelskamp is among those leaders.

A recent Kansas Liberty article outlined Senate bill 226 which would require all Kansas school districts to post their spending data online in a searchable database similar to KanView. According to Liberty:

"KanView was an outgrowth of an amendment offered by Huelskamp during the 2007 legislative session. Formally called the Kansas Taxpayer Transparency Act, it required the state to develop a searchable, publicly accessible website reporting the financial activity of state government. It was the first effort of its kind in the nation."

With over half of our state budget going to K-12 education, it is certainly time for the taxpayers to know how their money is being spent.

In addition, Huelskamp’s proposal, Senate Bill 226, would require the Legislature to provide a concise, easily reviewable listing of legislative votes.

“In order to hold us accountable, our citizens need quick, easy access to our voting records,” Huelskamp said. “But with the current legislative website, it is nearly impossible to track legislative votes. Instead, this bill would provide for simple, daily Internet updates of our voting records to allow constituent review and criticism.”

This is certainly something I can't wait for. It's unacceptable that in 2009 a Kansas citizen can't find out how their Representative or Senator voted.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of Sen Huelskamp's practical, common sense proposals once elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Is another move in Wasinger's future, or has it already happened?

Throughout the short campaign so far, Rob Wasinger has attempted to portray himself as a Kansan who was simply returning to his roots.

It's been a delicate balancing act because he still owns a nearly $1 million home in Virginia that he hasn't been able to unload. To further compound the situation, his wife had listed the home on her website, which was quickly noticed here in Kansas. As of today, the site has been taken down.

Further, just this past March, Wasinger signed off as a Catholic for McCain listing Virginia as his home state. All this combines to make it rather difficult for Wasinger to look like anything but a carpetbagger.

However, I discovered today that he may be even more "locationally challenged" than previously thought.

It began over a week ago when I got word that a house in Cottonwood Falls was to be renovated for, "a former Brownback staffer who has nine children." No question who they were talking about.

Campaign finance records filed January 30, 2009 indicated a travel expense reimbursement to Robert K. Wasinger. This was one of two expenditures in his report to addresses in Kansas even though earlier today he stated that all of his campaign funds would be spent in the first district.

The December 11 reimbursement lists 309 Oak Street in Cottonwood Falls for an address. I didn't quite understand why a Cottonwood Falls address would appear in his report. A voter registration search showed no voters registered at that address.

Today a repeat visit of his campaign filings showed an amended report from February 1, just two days after his quarter report. It was for a change of address to the same Cottonwood Falls address.

In a December 30 story in the Hutchinson News by Mary Clarkin, Wasinger claimed to be living in Hays with his Aunt. Why list your address on December 11 as Cottonwood Falls and then tell a reporter you live in Hays, only to change you address a month later back to Cottonwood Falls? Where exactly are you from Rob? Where exactly do you plan on living in a couple of months?

The Clarkin story also said that, "...he has bought a residence there and his wife and their nine children will relocate from Virginia." Why tell a reporter you live in Hays and bought a house in Hays and then change your address to Cottonwood Falls? Why all the lies?

I don't exactly understand all the deception, other than Secretary of State records show Rob has only voted in Kansas once this past November. He lists his aunt's Hays address on his voter registration record. Perhaps as the voter registration deadline neared for the November election the Wasinger family had been unable to buy a house in the district and thus he talked his aunt into loaning her address to avoid the embarrassment of being a candidate in a state where he'd never voted. This, of course, is just conjecture on my part because quite honestly I don't understand why you'd list multiple addresses or why you'd tell a reporter you're moving to Hays when you're not.

A friend in Cottonwood Falls took the above pictures. He has told me that the house at 309 Oak Street is currently vacant but has been gutted inside in what looks like preparation for a renovation.

A Register of Deeds records search will hopefully reveal more information, such as when the home was purchased.

Clean campaign one day, lies the next

I have to hand it to the Wasinger campaign, they are such... how do I say this tactfully... artists, when it comes to leaving discrete anonymous comments to promote their candidate.

Is Huelskamp going to sign the clean campaign pledge like Wasinger did today?

You know, those pledges only mean something if you, well, abide by it.

From Rollcall today:

And according to campaign finance records, Wasinger did not report any itemized contributions from the mostly rural 1st district. Wasinger defended his fundraising, saying he expects to raise more in the district once he expands his campaign.

"I look at all the money that I've raised, all that money is going to be spent in the district," Wasinger said. "It's my very own contribution to economic growth."

I'm at a loss for words. Are you really that arrogant? People are hurting and you're being glib about your campaign funds contributing to economic growth? Are you that out of touch with the first district that you seriously think voters consider your out-of-state contributions to help them out economically?

Hey, from the bottom of my heart Rob, thanks for all you've done for the Kansas economy! In fact, let's take a look at just what you've done to help us po' folk out.

10/10/2008
Marilyn Wasinger
Copy machine purchase and post
$236.97

12/11/2008
Robert K Wasinger
Reimburse travel to fundraiser
$383.87

Man, what a boost! I don't know what we would have done without your generous campaign spending to your family and yourself. And I'm just sure the travel expenses from December were spent in the first district.

So, where else did you spend money?

11/22/2008
Cara E Gavin
West Roxbury, Massachusetts
Inkind: hosting expenses fundraising
$300.00

11/22/2008
Tim V Gavin
West Roxbury, Massachusetts
Inkind: Fundraiser event costs
$300.00

12/09/2008
John Walsh
Mclean, Virginia
Inkind: Fundraising event expense
$1500.00

12/11/2008
Windows Catering Company
Alexandria, Virginia
Catering for fundraising event
$1463.25

Wow Rob. It looks like you care more about the economies in Virginia and Massachusetts than in Kansas. I guess this would explain why they're you're #1 and #3 contributors so far.

Do us all a favor and keep your East Coast money on the East Coast and don't be so arrogant as to think voters in Kansas see you're campaign spending as anything more than you trying to buy your next job.

Oh, and try not lying the next time. If you say you're going to spend all of your money in the district, why not try actually doing it???