I have been a believer for a long time in paying more attention to building the party in states like Kansas, and I wish you all the best of luck in that endeavor.  But let's not forget, Sibelius is the daughter in law of a very popular Republican ex-congressman from the most Republican part of the state.  That alone wasn't enough to elect her, but it was a big help that most Dems can't count on.

Also she mainly exploited the divisions between the moderate and uber conservative wings of the republican party in Kansas. Most of the suburban and country club republicans hate the conservative (con) wing of the state republican party more than they could ever hate democrats. Thus they split the ticket and vote for Sebelius. Thus, the reason why Phil Kline will probably lose his reelection bid as attorney general to a democrat that was a former....you guessed it...moderate republican.

Thomas Frank had a great deal of info on how the Democrats win in Kansas. It's quite an interesting history. This is what I remember reading in the book:

Republicanism has always been essential to Kansas. However, this didn't always mean conservatism like we know today. Bob Dole, Alf Landon, Dwight Eisenhower, Nancy Kassebaum, Bill Graves, and William Alan White were all from the Kansas GOP's "progressive" (that is "moderate" wing)." Kansas has always been a religious place, but before the 1990s, the issues that demagogue the KA GOP today (gays, abortion, evolution) were not on the radar.

By the late '80s, Kansas was basking in pragmatic moderation. Bob Dole (a solid member of the KA GOP's "Mod" wing) and Nancy Kassebaum (a liberal Republican) represented Kansas in the senate. Our of the state's four congressmen, two were Democrats, and two were moderate and pro-choice (one was a woman) Republicans. The Kansas state ledge was so unpolarized that in 1990, for the second time since WWII, the Democrats won a majority in the Kansas house. Kansas, it should be mentioned, was always ahead of the curve when it came to women's rights. Kansas was one of the few states to legalize abortion before Roe. Whichita was the only place in the region where a woman could have an abortion.

But then came 1991.

1991 was the year that "Operation Rescue" came to Whichita. These anti-choice activists succeeded in intimidating the town's abortion clinic into shutting down. This only encouraged these theocratic activists. They began a grassroots takeover of the Republican Party of Kansas, purgin the Mods from commiteeman and pricinct possitions. The Mods in the KA GOP and in the clergy denounced these activists.

In 1992, Bill Clinton won the White House, but the newly motivated Kansas GOP won back the KA house. One conservative activist, a carpet-layer in private life, unseated the 14-year incumbent who was the KA house speaker.

In 1994, Boeing executive Tod Tiarht, a right-wing activist, toppled Dan Glickman (who royally pissed off his blue collar constiuents at the Boeing plant in Whichita by voting for NAFTA). The state's other Democratic congressman lost the race for governor to Mod Sam Graves. That seat went to Kansas Sec. of Agriculture Sam Brownback, the scion of one of the wealthiest families in the state). In 1996, the two Mods in the Kansas delegation retired, leading to the "Cons" scooping up those seats. Bob Dole resigned from the senate to run for president. Bill Graves appointed his Mod Lt. Guv, Sheila Frahm, to the seat, who in turn lost the primary to Sam Brownback, who won a narrow victory over Democrat Jill Docking in November.

But the Mods learned to fight back. The residents of ultra-wealthy Mission Hills teamed up to dump their Con congressman in favor of Democrat Dennis Moore. And in 2002, when a Con won the GOP nomination for governor, the Mods who controlled the state GOP failed to get behind him, leading to Kathleen Sebelius winning the mansion back.

The ongoing Civil War between the Mods and Cons helps the Dems that way. We'll see if Paul Morrison, the ex-Republican running against the Con AG Phill Kline, can exploit this divide.

That, in other words, how a Democrat wins statewide in Kansas. The Mods refuse to throw their weight behind a Con candidate, and the Democrat can exploit the fued.

It should be noted that the Mods tend to be extremely right-wing on economic policy, and libertarian on social issues.

The Cons, who tend to be less well off financially than the Mods, are staunchly right-wing on both issues. Ironically, while the Cons hate the Mods for being "elitist" and "liberal," it's the Mods who benefit when the Cons slash spending and taxes.

Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts are in the "Mod" wing. Tod Tiarht, Jerry Ryun (the "praying track star"), and Sam Brownback are solidy in the "Con" wing. Kathleen Sebelius, Dennis Moore (who defeated Con Kris Kobach in 2004), and John Moore (the Lt. Guv) hang on as best they can.

Kay O'Conner, and extreme right-wing state Rep (profiled in "What's the Matter with Kansas?" as a staunch supporter of vouchers, supply-side economics, and theocratic beleifs), is challenging the state's Mod Sec. of State in the primary.

I've heard Latinos are a rapidly growing constituency in Western Kansas.  I wonder if the immigration mess will bear any fruit for Dems at the grassroots level there?

By the way, I've met a lot of very progressive people from Kansas.  The key word being "from", as in, they tend to leave as soon as they can.  That, of course, is true of a lot of conservative states, isn't it?

>>I've met a lot of very progressive people from Kansas.  The key word being "from", as in, they tend to leave as soon as they can.  That, of course, is true of a lot of conservative states, isn't it?<<

I doubt many choose to live only where the political climate is amenable.

Unfortunately people do tend to be pack animals and go with the herd.

Bob Kerrey was one of the most liberal senators as well as governor of Nebraska. Nebraska at about that time was often described as the most Republican state in the nation.

If the corrupt rightwing of the Democratic Party hadn't prevailed in molding Democrats into little more than an auxiliary of the Republican Party with the DLC and Clinton, America might have a had a true liberal as president.

Liberals are where you find them.  Like Ross Perot's eagles they often soar alone.  Sheep clump  together like crows and sometimes call themselves liberals.

ABlueKansas,

Where are you in KS?  I'm in Lawrence, but I'll be commuting to Overland Park this summer and next fall.

I went to highschool in Wichita and still head back in that direction every once in a while.

I'm in Lawrence as well, on the far west side of town.  Lawrence is much more progressive than I thought.  I'm no fan of the DC Dems, in fact, a lot of the problems the Dems have today are  a direct result of the way the DLC runs the party.  I think that even if Sebelius can only win the same way Clinton won, it is better than having a Republican in office.  I would never vote for Hilary over Russ Feingold or Howard Dean, but I would vote for her over any Republican.  Any Democrat who says differently is lying.