Wayne Briscoe, prospective candidate for Dennis Moore's third-district congressional seat, has a problem: getting 5,000 signatures to the Kansas Secretary of State by early August to ensure himself a place on the November ballot.
To solve this, he headed yesterday to Johnson County Community College, which is the perfect place since it was designed to help hardworking Kansans like Briscoe find a way to their dreams.
In a busy hallway Wednesday, Briscoe set up a table with a giant photo
of himself and called out "Are you a registered voter?" to the summer
students passing by.
Some stared at their feet. Others cowered beneath iPods. Some bright
kids got off the hook by calling back, "Yeah, but in Missouri!"
Briscoe found international students tricky. One tall student appeared to hail from the subcontinent, but he was registered in Kansas, and he did agree to sign. The short woman in a sari accompanying him, however, was a more difficult case.
"Are you registered in Kansas?"
"I'm an alien!" she piped.
"An alien," said Briscoe. "I see."
She and her friend headed off. Briscoe hollered after: "Hopefully not illegal!"
Occasionally, someone would linger long enough for Briscoe to talk politics. A tall, spiky-haired guy toting a laptop asked, "What are your positions?"
"Positions?" Briscoe said. He dug through the material on his table: fliers, business cards and stacks of those yellow "NEED CASH?" fliers that often end up under windshield wipers in the junior college parking lot. "Ah! Here's a brief overview," Briscoe said, brandishing a copy of this print-out:
"Why are you running as an independent?" the student asked.
"It's about positioning. The way the race looks to be set up, it will be Dennis Moore's wife --" he paused, and then interrupted himself. "Dennis Moore said he was retiring to spend more time with his family, but now she's running, so that's disingenuous."
The student nodded.
"And the Republican nominee will probably be Kevin Yoder, who was president of the college Democrats and moved to Overland Park to take a Republican seat. He's a career politician while I've been in business 22 years."
The implication: Neither candidate is conservative enough. Briscoe then explained how, as an independent, he would wield great power. "I will get to legislate to the legislature! I'll be able to say, 'The people of the third will go for this, but not for that! Take that out of the bill!'"
"What do you do?" the student asked.
"Right now I work at Sprint."
The student waited.
"I'm in wireless. Sales."
The student signed. Next, a young African-American man breezed by. Briscoe asked, "You registered to vote?"
"No," said the student, without slowing.
"Too bad," said Briscoe. Inspiration struck, and he grabbed a yellow flier. "You looking for work?"
The more questions people asked him, the more uncomfortable things got.
"What is your position on abortion?" demanded a fortyish woman with a professor's bearing.
"I favor the right to life," Briscoe said, weighing his words carefully. She had gray hair, no make-up. Could she be a liberal? "What I mean by that practically is the Supreme Court has ruled and left it to the states to tweak ..."
"That's not strong enough!" she proclaimed, storming away.
Briscoe leapt from his chair to plead with her.
"As a congressman, the best I could offer is a constitutional amendment!" he said, but she was already gone. He slumped down, waited a moment, and then stood again. He announced, to nobody in particular, that he needed to get a sandwich.
In 30 minutes, Briscoe collected five signatures. By my count, that means he only has 500 more hours of this agony to go.
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The question on Abortion was asked and I commented. You are right there are many more pressing issues. Jobs, Immigration, Taxes, to name a few. If you would really like to voice your objections to Partisan politics go on line and sign our Petition.
http://www.waynebriscoeforusco...
From Atlantic Cousins by Jack Fruchtman Jr. This is without doubt the poignant reason for my desire to run for Congress. Our forefathers knew then what we must all remember NOW and in the future.
�They believed human beings possessed the potential to achieve all their earthly goals and, in some cases, even otherworldly ones. In society this meant the spread of greater freedom and fewer taxes; and in politics, it meant the establishment of the republic, where citizens participated in making the decisions that affected everyone. Vigorous political campaigns, open public debate, and free and contested elections were the hallmarks of the democratic republic, where virtuous representatives worked hard to help their constituents and to contribute to the common good of society.�
Where are we now?
We must ban together to turn back partisan politics in Washington. The Democrats and the Republicans promise everything and do nothing. The Democrats and the Republicans have taken away our freedoms and now want our guns too. The Democrats and Republicans promise lower taxes and then raise them at every turn. The Democrats and the Republicans say they are for open debate and free and contested elections but only if they are the only parties to it. The Democrats and the Republicans have restricted Ballot access to make it nearly impossible for a CITIZEN to participate. The Democrats and the Republicans repeatedly try to block any other party to debates and forums. The Democrats and the Republicans do not seek out virtuous representatives they seek out party faithful. The Democrats and the Republicans do not work for their constituents to contribute to the common good of society. The Democrats and the Republicans work to further their own self interest.
Two out of every three Americans are angry and would prefer someone with no legislative experience to someone with legislative experience.
I need your help. I can�t do this alone. It is up to each of us to do our part. I am willing to do mine. If you agree send out a request to each and everyone you know.
�America + freedom + buzz word + you can get out + ditto + Keith Olbermann + .org�
Funny, funny, funny.
Ok, I may have been away from Plogland for a while, but the fortuitous timing of my eminent return has me perplexed with some commonsense questions:
What was it that set WB all wall eyed down the abortion path? Who the fuck thinks that abortion, right now, is the foremost pressing issue in our nation?
Did anyone get any enlightenment whatsoever about the plight of Independents? Crikey, that was worse than any of the 3 most commonly asked questions in Kansas City:
Pearson,
Send me an email with your phone number and I will personally give you a call to discuss how you can help.
wayne@waynebriscoeforuscongress.com
Thank you Pearson, We now have over 3,000 signatures. We have 16 days to go.Pitch was kind enough to post our flier. To help out you need only to call 913-710-8078 Bob Schmidt, is my petition drive coordinator. He will get you all set up.
Volunteers are welcome and anyone needing a job as well.
My position on abortion is posted on our website at:
http://www.waynebriscoeforusco...
Abortion is an issue that has polarized the State of Kansas and the Nation for 37 years.
This is not an easy issue to address so before you stop reading, thinking I am one way or another on the issue please read the entire position statement. For background:
In the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a woman, in consultation with her physician, has a constitutionally protected right to choose abortion in the early stages of pregnancy�that is, before viability. In 1992, the Court upheld the basic right to abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. However, it also expanded the ability of the states to enact all but the most extreme restrictions on women�s access to abortion. The most common restrictions in effect are parental notification or consent requirements for minors, state-sponsored counseling, waiting periods, and limitations on public funding.
In Kansas, the following restrictions on abortion were in effect as of January 2008:
�The parent of a minor must be notified before an abortion is provided.
�A woman must receive state directed counseling that includes information designed to discourage her from having an abortion and then wait 24 hours prior to the procedure being provided.
�Public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.
This is the law as it stands now.
Recently, May 3, 2010 the Kansas House of Representatives voted 86-35 to override Gov. Mark Parkinson�s veto of reporting regulations that will add a layer of accountability to late-term abortions by requiring them to report the specific diagnosis used to justify post viability abortions. Four House members abstained from the vote.
This pro-life victory sends the bill on to the Senate where 27 votes are needed to successfully complete the override. The Senate passed HB 2115, which had wide popular support, by a margin of 24-15, three votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to override.
My position is this: If the State of Kansas wants to engage in debating and legislating the issue, it is within their scope to do so. The will of the people, through their elected representatives, may amend the Rulings of Supreme Court up to the point where the Supreme Court has to rule again to decide the outcome. As a US Congressman, I believe that the only way that I can justify any action by the Federal Government on this issue is by a Constitutional Amendment to override the decision of the Supreme Court and it must then be ratified by the States for abortion to be abolished. Anything less will be struck down by the Supreme Court.
If I were to vote on whether or not the Constitutional Amendment should be sent for ratification I would vote yes.
Wayne, I want to clarify the "bright" comment I made earlier. I apologize for the way it came across. Obviously you are a bright, professional person that cares enough to get involved. I simply meant because the race has gotten so crowded your message and campaign could have been more effective if you had started sooner. It is an unfortunate reality how much has to be spent on elections in our system so someone like Yoder is perceived as the winner because he has all the money. Voters need to get informed and talk with the candidates to make an informed decision. We look forward to August 3rd so we can all move forward to making a difference.
The people that are working for my campaign need jobs due to the current economic climate. How many jobs has any of the Republican or Democrats provided for those who are out of work? I am guessing none.
Wayne, since Pitch didn't bother to interview you and instead just sniped and snarked, can you tell us how many signatures you need and where people could help you out? Also what is your abortion position? A constitutional amendment, is that something you support?
The good news is that when it is all said and done on August 3rd your confusion will be eliminated. One Republican, One Democrat, and myself. Depending on how things go you may be very happy that I am here. By the way we started planning this over a year ago. Before Dennis Moore stepped down.
Does anyone else wonder how bright someone is that waits until the last minute to jump into an important election? It was confusing enough and there are committed conservative candidates like Daniel Gilyeat who filed before Dennis Moore even announced his retirement. Dan has dedicated volunteers that are working hard and don't have to be bribed.
You are absolutely right Alan. It can be very agonizing to try to get on the ballot as an Independent. The system is designed to be that way. It was after all designed by Democrats and Republicans and was probably the last thing they ever agreed upon. They do not seek freedom of choice unless the choice is one of their own. They do not want to see competition in the political process as it diminishes their power. We will clock many hours to obtain a place on the ballot and will have worked very hard to get there. Unlike the Democrats and the Republicans who only have to pay a small fee.
When we are successful, it will be worth every minute and every signature is appreciated and highly valued. When good people are willing to step up and make the process work it works for all of us. Whether they are canvassers or signers on the petition they make a statement not unlike our forefathers when they signed the Declaration of Independence. They said that Americans deserve the Freedom to choose their elected officials when they sign the petition. Our grass roots efforts will hopefully inspire others.
(the) Trevor has little faith that America will be able to rid itself of the albatross of selective categorization for progressive reasoning, but for some apeshit reason thinks that the chaos of Independents might be a key.
Hence, (the) Trevor will offer assistance to Mr. Briscoe.
There are two aspects that work for Mr. Briscoe. His initials are WB and he looks like one of the Bobs from Office Space. Thus, Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox have already done extensive marketing in his behalf, and if he learns to lick that moustached set of soup coolers while claiming to �fix glitches�, and claim a pants-less tuxedoed frog or pants-less stuttering pig as his mascot (doesn't matter...as long as it is a pants-less cartoon), he will be automatically placed into several selective categories. This will in turn rouse the anger of the opposing categories and cause infighting betwixt similar categories that want him for their own.
Then, voila, he becomes the next in a long line of crazy ass political things to happen in Kansas.
This is kind of sad. Our election laws are designed to punish the independent and the not wealthy. So candidates have to do things like this which is more like trying to sell language software at the airport than getting out there and getting the pulse and mood of the population.
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