Are you kidding me? Isn't there a height requirement for the position?
In all seriousness, exactly what could he offer the party besides more of the same? The party needs a fundraising person who can tap into wells which have gone untouched. Shallenburger's tenure has drained the state party coffers to the point Ron Freeman and Margie Canfield are taking 'extra-long' Christmas breaks.
Anyway, we are hearing a number of names being floated around: Eric Carter, Mike Pompeo and a darkhorse: Christian Morgan.
Pompeo is a intriguing choice, but doesn't have the deep hooks throughout the state to garner enough votes.
Eric Carter? His mysterious disappearance after being totally abused by Sandy Praeger in the primary will not sit well with most. From what I know of him, he seems like he's only interested in what will benefit him.
Morgan would bring the only proven fundraising experience to the party out of all potential candidates. With his ties to both Johnson County and statewide money, he is definitely qualified.
More on these and other developments soon....
15 comments:
Check out this on Roberts:
http://kansasmod.blogspot.com/
Roberts is a joke. Where has he been when the state party has needed him?
I'll be glad when Senator Sebelius takes office in Janurary of 2009.
True, Huelskamp has no broad appeal, but I'm not sure any of those mentioned have what it takes.
I do agree with you that fundraising needs to be priority one. Shallenburger has been a major disappointment in that area.
Christian Morgan is too much of a kid to be party chair. The elected officials wouldn't take him seriously. He'd be a good ED if Freeman leaves.
if Freeman leaves? that has to be one of the first things the new chair does - clean house! Freeman is clueless and doesn't know the state, Margie is out-of-date and gives out bad information and Chad, well, what exactly does Chad do other than drive Margie to and from work?
Don't blame staff. The Republican Party needs leadership. Shallenburger basically qave up more than a year ago. Ron, Margie and Chad did as well as anybody could do with no money and no help.
It's not the staff's fault that their leadership--the state Party's Exec. Comm.--have not provided leadership and a vision.
Ron, Chad and Margie have all worked very, very hard and deserve a little slack. The fact that Anon has no idea what Chad does it proof that they are too dumb to be posting here. Learn your facts before you run off at the mouth.
They all worked very hard? You have got to be kidding me. They all left before 5:00 nearly every day leading up to the election, you never saw Margie and Chad at any events and Ron hardly ever even showed up at the office in Topeka. More like hardly working.
I disagree with the comment that Pompeo can't get the votes...I'm not an expert on either Kobach or Huelskamp. I've just heard second hand that both are nice men.
However, I have had several business dealings with Pompeo. Frankly, I'd hate to be his opponent and he is going to end up winning this race by a comfortable margin.
It is true that he graduated first in his class from the United States Military Academy and after serving overseas he graduated from Harvard Law and then practiced law at Williams & Connelly. That name didn't mean much to me but after a little research I discovered that it is arguably the most prestigious law firm in Washington D.C. Currently Pompeo is in the midst of running his second $100 million business. This storyline tells me he's not getting in this race to lose and he doesn't do things unless he knows he's got a plan and is ready to win.
I have seen several moderate and conservative bloggers really attacking each other on this site. And maybe it is justified. I don't know them nor do I know all of the background. But I think one thing they'll agree on is Pompeo will have this party nearly put back together in two years and hitting on all cylinders by the next gubernatorial election.
The social conservatives are going to love him because he's hosted fundraisers in his home for Brownback AND Kline. He attends church every week and he and his wife teach a Sunday School class.
The fiscal conservatives are going to love him because he's pro-business and is actually a Trustee for the Flints Hills Center for Public Policy, which is the big think tank here in Kansas. At the end of the day, one of the biggest reasons we are dying out here is because we don't raise any money at the State Party level. Pompeo is the type of guy that Kansas' business owners will write a check to because they know the money will be well spent to get the party's message out.
And then if you just truly aren't a social conservative OR a fiscal conservative, I guess you could say "the hell with it" and probably just switch parties and run for Lt. Governor like Sebelius' latest two clowns did.
Huelskamp is well-known around his district and popular. At this point he does not have a large statewide appeal because he is not well-known statewide, but he is more well-known than Pompeo. Most importantly, he has strong conservative convictions and excellent political instincts. This combination makes him the superior choice to put the Republican Party back on the map both through fundraising and strong media and grassroots efforts. To my knowledge, Pompeo has never run anything political, while Huelskamp has twice won re-election by huge margins in a diverse district.
When Tim first ran, he defeated a sitting Senator who was supported by Bill Graves. After than, the Democrats tried to beat him with Stere Ersick, a wealthy farmer who has close ties to Sebelius. Both the mods and the dems have spent a fortune trying to beat Tim. He has proven himself a good campaigner.
Governor Sebelius wants a pay raise just 6 weeks after winning reelection. Notice she did this just before Christmas so the public might not notice/care.
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/122206/leg_payreview.shtml
Dr. Huelskamp defeated an incumbent who was, shall we say, not exactly sober most of the time. That's how he got elected.
As for him being known and popular in his district, he may be known, he is not popular. He gives proof to the theory that you don't have to be likable to win.
He's as just a goofy politician as the rest of them. He would bad mouth Graves all the time, but when when the governor would be in SW Kansas Hueslkamp would push people out of the way to get a picture of him standing next to Graves for the papers.
Let him have the Party. Let the Huelskamp chairmanship be the one to have to close the doors due to lack of funding.
Christian Morgan did such a great job with the Barnett campaign that he is the obvious choice......
for the Shallenburger clone award.
I am going to have to piggy back on an earlier blogger about Pompeo. Pompeo has the experience that this party needs. Although he has never run for anything politically, he brings a lot to the table.
He DID go to West Point, and he DID graduate first in his class of '86. He went to Harvard Law and proceeded to work at one of the most prestigous firms in D.C. He then moved to Wichita to start a VERY successful aeromachine company called Thayer Aerospace. When he left Thayer to go to Sentry International (a company that sells oil pumping units, where Pompeo still works today), this aeromachine company was the third largest in the state.
Although I do not know Pompeo personally, I have heard from people who have met and done business with him. Everyone that I have heard from only had positive things to say about him. Everyone found him easy to work with, efficient, and highly intelligent. I am not too familiar with Kobach or Huelskamp, but I don't need to look any further that Pompeo.
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