More from McPherson

This week took Elsha's well-miled Explorer to McPherson and Hutchinson. We met some great conservative workers, David and Jayme O'Dell in McPherson, and added to our Facebook friends of younger supporters. The Bohnenblust sisters, Jessica and Jody are energized and eager to start a dress shop. They express dismay at government stealing their future through debt, bailouts and taxes. Not only did they come to the meet and greet, they've walked a parade for Todd and this week Jody showed me how to type T<3 which makes a heart on Facebook!

McPherson is a great small town with good people. We really enjoyed coffee at The Cake Lady and then on to the interview at the local McPherson Sentinel. I was hoping to meet their blogger but he was out sick. Elsha and I both enjoyed meeting Katie Stockstill who did the interview and remarked at what a busy time this campaign season is with so many open seats. She's right, this is an historic year.

And speaking of history, it was a pleasure to see one of Jerry Moran's many earmark projects. (We actually visited two of Jerry's earmarks in two hours – we listened to debates at Hutch Community College and were surprised when the moderator noted HCC received government funds through Jerry Moran's earmark requests.)

http://www.Facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4541593&id=132761681277#!/pages/McPherson-KS/McPherson-Opera-House/132761681277?ajaxpipe=1&__a=5

The McPherson Opera house is indeed the gem of Main Street. We met director John Holecek and quickly counted him a kindred spirit.




John gave us a great tour of the historic preservation of what is now the place for great entertainment, wonderful meeting space and education opportunity. It’s nice to see when federal money works for taxpaying citizens. We urge Kansans and out-of-staters alike to visit the McPherson Opera House and look forward to going back.

Then for a little sustenance we headed to The Courtyard on Main where owner Judith Dobson introduced us to her family running the restaurant. We chose to sit inside but customers can also sit in the Italian style courtyard, or charming side-rooms like the Milan. There is also a fabulous space on the roof! Debbie is quite an entrepreneur. Anyone interested in beautiful poured concrete and old world paint treatments should go for a look around and ideas. The food is good too.

http://www.Facebook.com/MilanWineBar?v=info

These businesses are bustling and we are glad of it. Women in Kansas are concerned about jobs, and the economy. They wonder if they will continue to be able to pay the mortgage for their families, and if their health insurance is any good now. They worry about savings accounts and retirement accounts. When they see their taxes going up and Topeka and Washington DC wasting their money, it makes their blood boil.

Each time he voted to raise income, property and sales taxes, Jerry Moran hurt business, farms and families. His vote against repealing the death tax hurts farmers and others who desire to leave their land and homes to their heirs. Women are infuriated that when death comes, the grieving family must deal not only with the mortuary, but also the taxman. Jerry voted against the Bush tax cuts and now, he wants to tax the internet, too.

Tax hikes are wrong for these business owners, for families, and for young women like Jessie and Jody. The people of McPherson can spend their money more wisely than government can.

News from the Trail in McPherson!

Vicki Tiahrt learning ropes of campaign trail

The McPherson Sentinel
By Katie Stockstill, managing editor
May 26, 2010

McPherson, Kan. - During previous elections, Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Goddard has hit the campaign trail on his own. But this campaign, he's got a running mate, of sorts.

Tiahrt's wife, Vicki, has been making stops throughout Kansas, focusing on smaller communities and working to connect with women and minorities.

"I've never been this engaged with the voters before because I have had children at home during previous races," Tiahrt said.

But the "state of the country" and its impact on women and families has inspired Vicki Tiahrt to hit the road and help spread her husband's message.

"It certainly helps having more faces out there," she said. "Every volunteer helps. We are running a grassroots campaign. Jerry (Moran) has the money and the Washington establishment. We are depending on grassroots efforts and Todd's consistent conservative message."

To read more of what Vicki Tiahrt told The Sentinel, see Wednesday's paper.
http://www.mcphersonsentinel.com/features/x505216685/Vicki-Tiahrt-learning-ropes-of-campaign-trail

Nothing is Certain but Death and Taxes...and Voting Records

They say time flies when you’re having fun, but it goes warp speed when you’re campaigning.

Several days ago, I spoke at the Topeka 912 Project’s monthly meeting. The topic – taxes. The Kansas legislature had just passed one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation and Kansans were unhappy!

I told the crowd that a few days before the meeting, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave my dad the highest lifetime rating in the Kansas House delegation for being the most supportive of pro-business and job growth legislation.

My dad received this recognition because he knows we have to build the economy from the ground up, not from the government down and he has courageously fought in Washington for free market principles, for less spending, and for lower taxes.

The Kansas legislature’s sales tax increase comes at a time when Kansans can least afford higher taxes. We’ve never seen higher taxes as a solution. That’s why my dad has never voted for a tax increase - not once.

Throughout his legislative career, during his time in Topeka, and during his time in Washington, he has never once voted for a tax increase.

As you may have seen on TV today, my Dad is the only Conservative candidate in the Senate race that can say that.

Dale Chaffee was the keynote speaker at the meeting that night. People affectionately call him “The Geezer” but Dale is sharp as a whip and he made a persuasive appeal for implementing the “Fair Tax” (an alternative to all federal income taxes. See http://www.fairtax.org/ for more info).

Dale also mentioned the Primary race and said Kansans need to make their choice and “get behind your candidate, knock on some doors, donate some money, and work hard for your guy.”

Dale said all this while wearing a Tiahrt for Senate sticker on his jacket :)

It was exciting to be in Topeka right on the heels of the tax increase and to see firsthand that people are paying attention to tax votes.

Kansas deserves a leader who will fight tax increases and who believes the best way to recover our economy is by trusting people to spend their money more wisely than the government spends it.

Visit http://www.toddtiahrt.com/who-is-behind-this-smile for more on the tax vote records.

This One's For The Girls

Last week's trail took me to Washington to lend a hand to RNC Co-Chair Jan Larimer and the Women's Summit http://www.rncwomen.com/.

Our mission: to recruit and sustain a strong base of women activists to build the Republican Party and ultimately win elections.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) gave a compelling presentation that the GOP must be the party that draws women. Here is an excerpt:

Did you know that in America today, 2 out of 3 new businesses are started by women? Or that 23 million Americans are employed by women-owned businesses?

According to the author Tom Peters in his book, Re-Imagine:

• Women control 51% of the New York Stock Exchange

• Women manage 83% of the household income

• Women are responsible for 85% of all purchasing of goods and services in the U.S. which represents $6 billion; women purchase for themselves, their families, and their companies

• Women will inherit 85-90% of the nation’s wealth in the next 10 years, which amounts to $133 trillion

• There are 5 million more women than men in the U.S.

According to the U.S. Census and Small Business Administration:

• Women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men

Career advancement and financial independence for women in business is flourishing. But this means that the President’s “spend-and-borrow” economic policies have had a disproportionately negative impact on American women.

RNC Co-Chair Jan Larimer asked for a political wife perspective for the afternoon's breakout sessions. Susan Allen (wife of former Virginia Governor and U.S. Senator, George Allen), Nancy Schulze (wife of former Rep. Dick Schulze of PA) and I shared our experience and encouragement to help women make a difference in politics.



We had a blast and are excited about working shoulder to shoulder with likeminded, spunky women across America for good government, personal responsibility, economic recovery.

Get a full recap here: http://bit.ly/d8z3HT

No More Homework, No More Books!

We all took a break from the trail last Saturday to celebrate John's graduation from Wichita State University's W. Frank Barton School of Business! Congrats also to John's friends and fellow grads, Brandon Rudkin and Matt Finley!

Most of these photos were taken by our friend, and wonderful local photographer, Lora Hines. Visit http://www.lorahines.com/ to see her work!

Dad with Dr. Hensler, Dean of the W. Frank Barton School of Business

And with our Dean, Grandma Audene Holland. She drove over from Pratt, KS.

Another great picture by Lora!

And a camera phone photo by Mom.

Conservatives Need a Warrior, and We've Got Just the Guy

The Kansas Trail led to Johnson County this Monday. The North East Johnson County Republican Women's Club has a regular luncheon packed full of "Fast Five" stump speeches, a key note speaker, introduction of members' guests, business meeting, and yes, lunch!

When one Fast Five speaker/candidate started his talk with, "I'll be brief, I know you aren't here to listen to the politicians," Club members responded with a resounding, "Oh yes we are!"

These ladies mean business!

They graciously fit me into the Fast Five lineup and let me share a little about my dad's race for Senate.

I talked about how interesting this election year has been so far and that Republicans have a real chance at winning back the majority.

I also talked about the American Conservative Union's ranking of Members of Congress. The ACU ranked my dad as the most conservative member of the Kansas delegation. The ACU Chairman also endorsed my dad for Senate and said "Conservatives need warriors like Todd Tiahrt."

America needs warriors. We need warriors to go up against Obama and Pelosi's agendas. The Senate needs warriors to fight Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer. The ACU Chairman also said "Anyone can have a conservative year or two when they are running for office, but Todd has consistently been a leader for conservative causes from day one."

My dad has been an effective Congressman and now he's ready to take his fight into the Senate. The House of Representatives has 435 members. The Senate only has 100. This means a Senator can be four times as effective as a Congressman - from crafting bills in small committees to using the filibuster to block a bad bill on the Senate floor.

Conservatives need a warrior. And Kansas voters have the opportunity to send one to the Senate on August 3.

From Her Hands to Our Hearts

Life is full of surprise encounters and they seem to happen more rapidly during campaign season. One is Cynthia Daugherty. She’s retired military and has a charming smile.

Cindy delights in making quilts and cleverly creates them to fit the occasion. At a townhall meeting in Johnson County this spring, she presented us with this quilt.

This one uses a campaign t-shirt – the trademark of the Tiahrt campaign through the years. Rep. Dan Glickman commented after his defeat in 1994, "There were just too many red t-shirts!"

Cindy found fabric very much like the Tiahrt logo that helps with the pronunciation of a difficult spelling. The patriotic flag-waving heart is there in the fabric and the quilting repeats the heart pattern. The back of the quilt has a cowboy because Cindy said "you’re from out west."

In a recent email, Cindy wrote, “Quilts bring a strong sense of love and comfort, and that is why I love making them for good people, like the Tiahrt family.”

We are blessed to find such dear friends along the Kansas Trail.

News from the Trail at K-State

Vicki Tiahrt dines, discusses issues with College Republicans
By Danny Davis, K-State Collegian

Photo credit: Danny Davis, K-State Collegian

In the midst of her husband’s campaign for U.S. senator, Vicki Tiahrt stopped by K-State yesterday evening to visit. At Houlihan’s, she dined with members from the K-State College Republicans organization and other students who are interested in the 2010 congressional elections. Her visit at K-State was one of many she has made across Kansas as she visits college campuses.

The dinner, more of an informal gathering of politically motivated students than a campaign rally, featured discussions between her and students about current issues affecting Kansas. Tiarht said the experience of visiting college students has been rewarding. The responses from her visits have shown her that students are aware of political issues and want to make a difference.

“Conventional wisdom tells us that college students don’t matter,” Tiahrt said. “That’s not true.”

She said Kansas students are “willing to take a stand with some blow back” and that they “don’t blink” in the face of opposition. Asked what she had hoped to gain from her visit to Manhattan, Tiahrt said she hoped to “have fun and make some new Facebook friends.” That lighthearted motive set the tone for the dinner as she allowed the students to discuss issues freely and openly.

Shelby Danielsen, president of the College Republicans, said the idea was to visit with Tiahrt on a more personal level than in a formal meeting where she would stand and speak to an audience. Danielson said it was the first time the College Republicans have met Tiahrt as a group.

The Kansas Federation of College Republicans recently endorsed Todd Tiahrt for his senatorial campaign. Vicki Tiahrt said that they are honored to have the endorsement and proud the College Republicans were using their voice to endorse a candidate.

“I think she’s awesome,” said Page Routhier, president of the KFCR, of Tiahrt. “She didn’t focus too much on the campaign and allowed us to focus on our concerns and give her ideas.”

Tiahrt closed her meeting with a speech to the group of people that turned out at the dinner. She spoke about how the voices of students do not go unheard and polled the group about how many of them are considering running for election someday. To the several who raised their hands, she offered some advice, and told the students not to let money dictate their decision of whether or not to run for office.

Throughout the night, she also offered several Todd Tiahrt campaign stories from the 1990s. Most of the students would not remember the early campaigns, she said. Most notably, she recounted the 1994 election, Todd Tiahrt’s first campaign, against opponent Dan Glickman. The race was seen by critics as an unlikely win for any Republican and Glickman had superior funding, yet Todd Tiahrt won the election with 54 percent of the vote.

Courtney Hall, junior in feed science and management, said she attended the dinner gathering because she saw it as an opportunity to socialize with other college students interested in politics. She also wanted to “get to know Vicki and what she has to say.”

“Patriotism is alive and well in Kansas,” Tiahrt said. “K-State students are very bold.”

http://www.kstatecollegian.com/news/vicki-tiahrt-dines-discusses-issues-with-college-republicans-1.2259148

Don't Retreat, ReTweet!

Recently, one of my mom's 1,152 Facebook friends sent this screen capture of her profile page to the press and the press called her status an "outburst."

http://prairiepolitics.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/zing/

Mom's on her way to support a youth-led forum on conservative issues in Emporia, but she asked me to pass along a thanks to the McPherson Sentinel for giving Dad's upbringing on a five-generation family farm additional news coverage.

If Sean or the Sentinel would like to add her on Facebook directly, she'd be happy to accept the request.

She'll add her thoughts once she gets back to Goddard and to her keyboard.

In the meantime, check out this story in the Topeka Capital-Journal...

http://cjonline.com/news/legislature/2010-04-30/farm_bureau_endorses_moran

Tiahrt said in an interview that he wasn't surprised by the Farm Bureau's decision. He attributed it to the fact Moran's First District covers 69 counties, while his district contains 11 counties. County-by-county voting on a Farm Bureau endorsement plays in Moran's favor, he said.

He questioned Moran's leadership on the House Agriculture Committee, suggesting more aggressive advocacy was necessary to secure farm interests in Washington.

"I learned about farm policy in the seat of a tractor, not in committee," Tiahrt said.

Tiahrt, of Goddard, was visiting a Boeing tanker simulator parked outside the Statehouse at the same time Moran was accepting the Farm Bureau endorsement on the 13th floor of a building overlooking the Capitol.

In the battle for endorsements, Tiahrt has earned support of political action committees with Kansans for Life and the Family Research Council.

As Seen in KC

Look what was spotted on a Macaroni Grill table in the Kansas City area!

Getting to Know You...

Eleanor Roosevelt once gave advice for political wives: Always be on time. Do as little talking as possible. And lean back in the parade car so everyone can see the President.

My, how times have changed... Women have made great strides since Eleanor Roosevelt's time and spouses have become a feature in politics. Behind every great elected man is a brilliant and determined woman. I'm lucky to call this one "Mom."

Q&A With Vicki Tiahrt

By Belinda Larsen
Augusta Gazette
Posted Apr 30, 2010 @ 11:57 AM

Augusta, Kan. — Vicki Tiahrt, wife of Todd Tiahrt, Republican 4th District Congressman who is locked in a fight against Jerry Moran (R-Hays) for Sen. Sam Brownback’s U.S. Senate seat, is on the campaign trail making appearances around the state and last week she stopped in Augusta. She shared a woman’s perspective with Gazette reporter, Belinda Larsen.

Q. The Senate race has gotten negative. How hard is it for you to hear negative things about your husband?
A. I’ve been at this a long time and developed a thick skin. With the Internet and blog comments it can get pretty rough. But I’m older, wiser and I pick my battles.

Q. What do you see as your role on the campaign?
A. Women have unique perspectives. Something is happening with our gender. At least 55 percent of those attending TEA parties are women. Women are very responsive. They are leaving the kitchens and jobs and making their way to the public arena. This is very good for our country. We are encouraging women, as well as minorities and youth. These groups have been marginalized and deserve a place at the table. The passion is there. The minority community may be a little more hesitant.
We’re determined to build friendships and relationships. They all need to lift their voices and America needs to hear.
Our young people have been ignored. We’ve found that when we reach out that they are very informed. They bring a new energy and any campaign would be foolish to ignore them.

Q. What are the most important issues for you?
A. The economy and jobs. Three quarters of the U.S. households have women contributing to the household. The economy is definitely impacting moms and kids.

Q. Can you share your favorite story about Todd helping a constituent?
A. Todd has a great staff working with him and almost every day someone calls with problems. But, I would have to say the Burnhams (Kansas missionaries taken hostage by terrorists in the Philippines) come to mind first. Kansans carried that situation in their hearts. We were shocked that people could be taken hostage. Todd stepped up and was vocal when America could not rescue them due to the rules of engagement in dealing with terrorists.
He works hard, he’s motivated, aggressive and a fighter -- he can be a bull dog. Kansas has real needs and he’s always aware of those needs.
Federal help is needed to deal with the meth labs; there are communities that don’t have resources to to update water treatment and sanitation systems -- if you don’t have a Todd Tiahrt to get those funds, those communities lose out.
Todd stepped up and assisted with getting $1 million to help with the technology in the BTK case, which resulted in the capture and arrest of Dennis Rader a couple of weeks later.
There is a lot of talk about earmarks. Earmarks are not new spending -- that money is on the table already going somewhere -- he strongly believes in targeting the money wisely.

Q. Another important issue for you is literacy?
I love books and have always enjoyed reading. I’ve been involved with The Big Read program in Wichita. Just this morning I read to some second graders. (Vicki is the Honorary Chair of The Big Read program in Wichita. The Big Read was started by the National Endowment for the Arts to restore reading to the American culture after a study showed literary reading declining rapidly in America. The Kansas Library Association and the Mountain Plains Library Association noted Vicki's work for literacy by naming her the 2009 Emerging Leader Library Advocate award winner.). We have to encourage Kansans to keep reading and to be life-long learners. It’s important to have an informed electorate.
Kansans are smart and well-informed. You give them information and they’ll make the right choice. I’m always amazed at how informed people in Kansas are.

Q. If you weren’t married to him, what would be your favorite thing about Todd Tiahrt?
A. What an interesting question!
He has a wicked sense of humor...and I’ve always liked his walk. He has a football player walk. The first time I saw him at college, it was his walk I noticed.
Todd is a kind person. Whenever he has toured weather-damaged areas around the state, he has been touched by the impact on his fellow Kansans. It always touches his heart.
Todd’s efforts have always been to do the right thing with his constituents’ best interests in mind.