KTRM: Kansans Throwing Racial Mud
Morris and KTRM play six degrees of KKK

The Kansas Traditional Republican Majority (KTRM), a group of liberals masquerading as Republicans, has crossed a very large line in the sand.

Ryan Wright, executive director of the KTRM, sent out a press release Friday entitled, “Kline and Ryun Unmasked: Linked to Ku Klux Klan.”

Really??? You mean like how Kris Kobach was linked to the KKK through 3 or 4 different people before you actually arrived at somebody who knew somebody who went to school with somebody who’s sister played in the band with a KKK member?

Yea, that’s right…that’s exactly what they did. Apparently when the chips are down, KTRM decided to pick up the Democratic playbook, Dennis Moore style.

“Traditional Republicans demand that Phill Kline and Jim Ryun explain their association with Family Research Council Action (FRCA) whose executive director Tony Perkins has ties to the Ku Klux Klan and other white-supremacist organizations.”

So what association is it that Ryun and Kline are expected to explain?

Well for Ryun, he’s expected to explain why the FRCA endorsed him for the second district congressional seat. The FRCA, you see, has an executive director who was once (10 years ago) the campaign manager of a guy in Louisiana who allegedly tried to get a voter list from a guy who had ties to the KKK.

Right. Like that information was just discovered yesterday. Is the voting public really expected to believe that? Not to mention the mental gymnastics they have to go through to get to the end conclusion that ‘Jim Ryun is a racist.’

Voters are sick of this kind of last minute, win at all costs, desperation campaigns.

Look, everybody knows what’s going on here…Jenkins is down and Ryun is up. There’s three days left until election day and KTRM, or somebody on their behalf, did some polling and they found out that they’re not doing so hot. In fact, they’re losing badly. And what do you do when you’re losing badly? You sling a little mud. And what better mud to sling than some racial charges, right?

But why stop there? Why not throw a little punch at everybody’s favorite punching bag, Phill Kline.

You see, Kline is expected to explain why he made an appearance held the by the FRCA, whose executive director was a campaign manager 10 years ago for a guy running for the Senate who allegedly contacted a KKK sympathizer for a voter list.

That’s the connection Kline is supposed to ‘explain?’ Please, it took me three reads to connect the ’six degrees of Kevin Bacon’ the KTRM dreamed up in the first place.

Now, here’s the real kicker. From the Topeka Capital Journal, October 26, 2006.

Attorney General Phill Kline should pull an ad attacking Democratic challenger Paul Morrison over unproven, 15-year-old sexual harassment allegations against him, some fellow Republicans are saying.

Criticizing the ad was the Kansas Traditional Republican Majority, a group that represents GOP moderates but has endorsed Kline, a leader of the party’s conservative wing. Chairman Andy Wollen is calling the spot “underhanded” and “downright shameful.”

Oh no…hold on…wait for it…just…a…little…longer……so……KTRM endorsed Phill Kline two years ago, and he went to a conference in January 2008, which was sponsored by an organization, who has an executive director who once was a campaign manager for a guy in Louisiana who 10 years ago allegedly tried to get a voter list from a guy who had ties to the KKK.

Whew!!! Sounds like KTRM is a racist organization! Why else would they have endorsed Kline in ‘06 unless they were a bunch of racists?

Sound stupid? Not any more stupid than saying Kline is a racist for going to a conference.

And, oh yea, guess what? That ad Kline ran…that’s right…turns out old Morrison was just the scoundrel Kline told everyone he was.

So who exactly has egg on their face now?

So how is it that KTRM is able to spread such racial venom with ease? Well, for starters, a well funded war chest compliments of Senate President Steve Morris.

Sen. Morris is the chairman of the Senate Republican Leadership Committee PAC which donated a whopping $45,000 to KTRM. KTRM then turned around and used the money on hit pieces against Senate Candidate Mary Pilcher-Cook and Ben Hodge.

When I saw the ropes on the mailer, I had really hoped that KTRM meant them to be symbolic of trying to ‘tie’ Pilcher-Cook to Kline, but I guess now that they’ve let their real feelings out of the bag, our original press release referring to the mailing as a ‘lynching’ was more accurate than we wanted.

What does Senator Morris have to say about all of this? Well, that’s a great question. Here’s what he had to say back in ‘06 in the same article where KTRM calls out Kline for running an ad that accurately depicted his opponent.

“I’ve always been against negative campaigning,” said Morris, from Hugoton. “I think when you do negative campaigning, it’s counterproductive.”

It must be that Sen. Morris has developed anmesia or some form of memory loss, because if he hasn’t he should denounce the KTRM’s tactics immediately and demand the return of the $45,000 Senate Republican Leadership Committee PAC donation. Anything short of this is nothing more than an endorsement of the KTRM’s unsubstantiated, racially charged, personal attacks.

Apparently this amnesia problem is contagious as Senate Vice President Vratil showed evidence of the same symptoms in a recent quote on PrimeBuzz. It seems they think the rules have changed, that it’s a new phenomenon that incumbent Republican Senators are facing primary challenges. Really? Then how do you explain all those challengers to incumbent conservative Senators back in 2004? You know, the ones your leadership PAC helped fund? I guess it’s only wrong when conservatives challenge liberals.

The candidates and citizens of Kansas have a clear choice August 5th.

The candidates can either choose to be with the KTRM and their baseless, racial attacks or they can choose to be with the citizens of Kansas and work to solve our problems together rather than divide us unnecessarily with false attacks.

The citizens can either continue to accept this kind of gutter politics or they can choose a better, brighter future for the Republican Party. Citizens have a clear choice over false racial division or independent, conservative candidates who care about their constituents and not the next PAC check coming in.

Voters deserve better than what the KTRM has served up. Voters deserve candidates who care. Voters deserve candidates with solutions. Most importantly, voters deserve the truth.

(The KRA has made no endorsement of either Phill Kline or Steve Howe for Johnson County DA. This article is intended to set the facts straight and is not a form of endorsement. KRA statewide endorsements can be found here.)