Reporter Trips, Stumbles over Super Secret Poll

The uncomfortable truth about politics is that it's revolting. Most of the people involved are complete squishes unconcerned about anything BUT maintaining power, positive cash flow, and getting the next political job. 

Exhibit A: A "secret" survey conducted by Kansas Senate leadership on behalf of Republican Senatorial candidates. Here's an example of questions on this poll: How much do you hate the Governor? Your neighbor earned $9 million last year. Meanwhile there are school children in Garden City who only received Ipad minis from the school district, while students in Johnson County students received full-size Ipads. Should your neighbor have to pay more in taxes so western kids don't starve to death in the streets?

How do I know the questions in this poll were questionable? Well, the Topeka Capitol-Journal doesn't have the only scribblers who trip and find confidential polling just laying around. This poll was leaked by the self-serving person who commissioned it. 

The poll, essentially funded by Senate President Susan Wagle, makes her look like a saint--called to save stoopid Kansans from themselves. 

Here's some information I'd be interested in having: At one time, Sen. Wagle was known as a conservative stalwart, a staunch fighter for smaller government, less bureaucracy, and life. Recently it appears the ONLY thing she cares about is maintaining a leadership role in the Senate and eventually attempting to take Congressman Mike Pompeo's seat when he runs for Governor. (Will he run? Word on the street is that he misses living in Kansas. He'll face opposition, should he decide to run, but he'll likely have an enormous war chest.)

Wagle, it appears, is a bit of a squish. She actively campaigned against conservatives during the primary so she could maintain her Senate leadership role. And now, she's actively working to oust the few remaining conservatives from the Senate. An example? Republicans in the Senate have a re-election fund used to assist vulnerable Republicans. Wagle, as sitting Senate President, gets a hefty say in how that money is used. Rumor has it Sens. Dennis Pyle, Steve Fitzgerald and Mary Pilcher-Cook will not receive one red cent of assistance from the fund. I hear they weren't supportive of Wagle's efforts for Senate leadership in the past. It appears Wagle may be  using her power and influence for a personal vendetta. Guys, that's exactly the WRONG kind of person we want in charge of anything at all. 

I'm really not trying to bash Wagle here. I don't know her. I used to admire her, and now I think she's a squish with no moral compass. I have very, very limited tolerance for that sort of behavior, because I don't understand it. 

My values are set. No amount of power or money or access is going to make me decide that babies don't have the right to live or that government should have all the money and give the peons an allowance. Government is terrible at just about everything it does, and I don't care who is in charge; Because they're politicians good at getting re-elected, they're going to suck at running things. And I say this about the pols I like as well. No offense, friends, but you suck at governing almost as much as your political foes. And if your goal is maintaining power and access instead of holding the line on the bloated bureaucracy or protecting innocents, then you're actually worse than many of your political foes. Many, many of your foes at least have an agenda beyond themselves. Their agenda is a horror, but at least it takes others into account. They want to rule us for our own good, and they want to make everyone complicit in their sins. 

Many polls are commissioned with the express purpose of propping up an idea or a candidate, and I think that was this poll's design. I make that assumption because the poll results were "leaked" to a reporter. 

I know more about this poll and the folks who leaked it than I can say here, but I'm pretty disgusted by the whole thing. It shouldn't be too much to hope that some of our elected officials act with a tiny bit of integrity, honesty, and loyalty. 

This poll is dishonest. Its results are questionable, and the story scribbled by the Journal is disingenuous. The questions used in the poll were leading, and the leak was self-serving.

Perception is reality most of the time, but it's breathtaking how these folks work so hard to skew actual reality and then use it to brow beat conservatives with it.