Pioneer Pathways

Congratulations to the candidates in the Primary Election who won their contested races (the 41st District Representative race and the 1st County Commission race).

Congratulations are in order for ALL the candidates whether they faced a primary race or not. Campaigning is hard work and a lot of time, effort and money were exhausted in getting the conservative message out, in not only Leavenworth County, but all across the state of Kansas. Most all state level candidates have local folks providing support to their cause throughout the local area by distributing information and yard signs.

We can celebrate briefly, but we have less than 90 days now until the November Election. There is a lot to do in a very short amount of time.

The Leavenworth Republican Party headquarters is open and fully functional 6 days a week from 10:00 am until 5:30 pm. The headquarters is located at 110 S. 5th Street, Leavenworth. We are staffed and we have campaign literature on all the candidates to include hand-outs and yard signs. Our phone number is 913-772-VOTE.

Yard signs can be put out 45 days prior to the November election in all cities within Leavenworth County. September 18 is the date to place signs. Keep in mind there are restrictions on where signs may be placed (easements/right-of-ways, etc).

Come down and visit the headquarters and volunteer to help out. You may want to sign on to help out a candidate or maybe volunteer to work in the office. We have numerous ways for someone to help out.

Congratulations to our 2010 Republican Candidates

U.S. Senator: Jerry Moran
U.S. House of Representatives: Lynn Jenkins
Governor/Lieutenant Governor: Sam Brownback / Jeff Colyer
Secretary of State: Kris Kobach
Attorney General: Derek Schmidt
State Treasurer: Ron Estes
Kansas House 39: Owen Donohoe
Kansas House 40: Sandra Bohne
Kansas House 41: Jana Goodman
Kansas House 42: Connie O'Brien
County Commissioner 1st District: Bob Holland

The Republican voter turn-out for the election

was 38 % for Leavenworth County.

A big Thank You to all who helped to get out the vote.

Two American Worlds - The Political Ruling Class and Everyone Else

A poll that came out last week had some stunning results in that it showed a huge divide among Americans. The poll asked a simple question that shows a person's economic philosophy. The two basic versions are capitalism and socialism/communism. The question went like this: Do you favor a free market approach to the economy or a government managed economy? You can see this and other polls at Rasmussen Reports.

The answers may surprise you. In the total, seventy five percent (75%) of likely voters preferred the free market version. Just fourteen percent (14%) viewed the government managed option as preferable. That's about as lop sided as you can get I would think. The real numbers inside tell an even bigger story. When the responses from just the Political Class were recorded it was a very different story. Forty four percent (44%) favored a government managed economy as compared to only thirty seven percent (37%) that favored the free markets. It is stunning to say the least that such a large group of our politicians have lost their way and don't even understand what the country represents. They are viewing themselves as a ruling class over the rest of the nation.

This poll helps to explain a lot of things going on in Washington. We as a nation have developed a political class which is the first problem. The second is that the people in the political class have somehow reached a level where they believe they know better than the people who put them there. That is not socialism, that it communism. Liberals say all the time the people want this or the people want that. In truth we have just observed for the last 18 months a government that is governing against the will of the majority of the people and trying to use civil rights and "social justice" as a cover. I will grant you that some poor slobs out there want to elect people to do their thinking for them, but those people are few and far between. This poll also explains another thing, why the politicians on both sides hate the Tea Parties. While it is true that the Tea Party groups tend to lean to the Republicans they have tossed more than one out of office in favor of constitutional conservatives.

This poll shows why as Obama's poll numbers across the country continue to fall like a rock but inside the beltway he remains popular. America needs to dismantle this "political class" for good. We as a nation need to put an end to people who think they know what's good for you or good for me. Our republic cannot stand with a ruling class of people, no matter what they like to call themselves.

Any Excuse Will Work by: Jessica Bradford

I was twelve years old when I had my first experience with door-to-door campaigning for a candidate. My dad dropped me off at the first house on the block and wished me luck as I grabbed my candidate's literature and voter registration forms and hopped out of the car. As I walked up the sidewalk I rehearsed in my head everything that I wanted to say and thought through every question that could possibly be asked about where my candidate stood on the issues. When I finally got to the front door I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. I was a little surprised to see a twenty five year old man answer the door in his boxers and t-shirt, obviously having just woken up. It was two in the afternoon. I introduced myself and told him why I was there and proceeded to ask him if he was registered to vote. He replied "No, I haven't had time." He didn't appear to be the busiest person in the world, but I wasn't there to judge. I then continued, "Well I have a registration form right here if you'd like to register now." He replied, "Well I don't know where I would bring it." I explained that I could turn it in for him if he wanted. He then said, "No that's ok; I don't have time to fill it out now." Refusing to give up, I told him that he could go online and fill it out and it wouldn't take much time at all. "Yeah, but my internet is really slow." I took that as my cue, thanked him for his time and went back to the car feeling like an utter failure.

I never quite understood how so many people could be too tired, or too busy, or too this, or too that to put any effort into improving their country. It seems that everyone has more than enough time to complain about the government, but when asked to actually take action in order to make a positive change, all of the sudden everyone is busy, sick, out of town, tired, etc... It reminds me of the many times while I was in high school that my parents would tell me to help with the house work or pick weeds in the garden. Whatever the task may have been, I would always have an excuse as to why I couldn't do it. "I have too much homework!", "I'm too tired!", "I just did it last week!" My dad would always reply, "Any excuse will work, you might as well pick one I haven't heard before." Though I'll never admit it to him directly, he was right.