Debate on late-term abortion will probably dominate the next legislative session

Next year is a full-blown election year for the Kansas Legislature where members of the House and Senate go before the voters.

Given that and the ongoing hoohaw over Dr. George Tiller and late-term abortions, both AP and the Kansas City Star are arguing that the next session will be dominated by debate over abortion. An interim legislative committee is soon expected to be appointed to study the issue this summer and even some Democrats say they're ready to discuss changes in the law.

My take is that the conventional wisdom of the mainstream media is right on this one.

Even in Kansas, Bush is unloved & kept safe in a bubble

Our not-so-beloved president was in Wichita today, and it looks like he was, once again kept far from the regular folks of even this very red, red town.

The Wichita Eagle reports about Bush's arrival at McConnell Air Force Base:

"Several hundred Air Force personnel and Boeing employees were gathered there to greet him."

That's it? Just military personnel who have to be nice to the president and Boeing employees who may have been as eager to see the plane they built -- Air Force One -- as the president?

Bush then went to what is by all accounts a terrific Boys and Girls Club complex in Wichita and then on to speak at a private fundraiser for Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts. The Republican senator is up for reelection next year.

I wonder if Bush's appearance will help Roberts or hurt him. Bush's very public support of Jim Ryun didn't seem to do much for the recently ousted GOP Congressman. Bush's low-key arrival leads credence to the idea that the prez isn't even welcome in the Heartland.

Recent polls support that.

In a poll taken from 6/8 to 6/10 by Survey USA, Bush got only a 38 percent approval rating in Kansas. His disapproval rating is a whopping 60 percent.

Meanwhile, Roberts own approval rating is 14 points higher than the president's in Kansas. Roberts approval number is 52 percent. The senator scores a 36 percent disapproval rating.