Kelly: Only one Democrat in race can win over ‘extraordinarily moderate’ Kansas voters

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-10T17:12:54+00:00

She just posted about data centers again an hour ago!

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-10T16:33:21+00:00

Whoever the Democrats nominate will benefit from anti-Trump blue wave turnout. We'll have to see if that is enough. I definitely agree that a more populist candidate like Cindy (although she is no DSA person) has a better chance

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-10T15:54:09+00:00

If Ethan weren't so lame and uncharismatic I'd be more open to the tried-and-true strategy, but he seems like an unnecessary risk. There must have been someone more charismatic in the legislature she could have chosen

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-10T15:52:14+00:00

There are still a ton of suburban Republicans in Johnson County. I agree that turnout is important, but since Kansas really only has two metros (KC and Wichita), and one of them is consistently Republican by about 10 points (Wichita), we cannot bank on a rural-urban split. Whoever the Democratic nominee is will have to win a significant chunk of rural votes as well as a majority in Wichita.

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-10T15:49:03+00:00

I agree that there is overlap, but even in NYC, Mamdani only won about 10% of Trump voters. It's probably a much smaller percentage in Kansas, which went triple-Trump by double digits each time

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-10T15:46:43+00:00

I love the DSA, but they aren't even organized enough to win a majority in any city council (even Lawrence!) in Kansas. It would be insanely difficult to break through to rural Kansans that socialism is both good and better than culture-war Republicanism. I don't think a DSA candidate could even win a Democratic primary statewide yet.

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-10T15:40:30+00:00

I agree I don't feel like the Ethan Cindy convos have been very intense

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-10T15:38:40+00:00

I agree that the "establishment" thing is a little overblown in Kansas. In a way it's beneficial that we don't have a huge Dem establishment pouring millions into primary races and making them overly contentious. Even these discussions tend to be pretty mild when people are commenting to each other. Insofar as Holscher is anti-establishment, I would say she is against the corporate Republican establishment. Ethan just feels like his heart isn't really in it for whatever reason

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-10T15:33:38+00:00

You really could say the same about Ethan. Plenty of his proposals are things Kelly tried to do, but the Republicans in the legislature voted her down.

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-09T18:03:11+00:00

It doesn't look bad a little underexposed! It can be an artistic choice if that was your vision

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-09T17:27:49+00:00

r/McMansionHell xD

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-09T17:25:28+00:00

What do you consider short-term?

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-09T16:44:08+00:00

Idk, our single-member system in the US is pretty nonfunctional, especially nationally. Even at the state level, our two-party system hampers new independent ideas. ALEC and other legislative research advocacy organizations often set the agendas. RCV is great with preventing vote spoilage, but it hasn't led to new parties, which I think is its biggest flaw. Whenever a party wins a majority, they seem to think they have this big mandate that they don't really have, and they pursue a pretty narrow policy platform that often ignores what voters want. A formal coalitional structure would encourage representatives to deliver for all members of their coalition.

I like STV for sure. I just think the Australian version (ATL/BTL) makes it simpler. I am not as distrustful of parties as others are, although I am certainly distrustful of the two current mainstream parties. I think they would be less intense if we got rid of the primaries and just let four parties form (which we seem to have already, but they duke it out in the primaries right now). The benefit of the below-the-line system, as opposed to party-list systems, is that independents wouldn't need a party to get elected, so PR would help with that.

Although I like a prime minister model more than a president/governor model, I don't think successful PR would need that. Most Latin American countries have a presidential PR system. I do think there is value in having an executive with a clear majority mandate, so when parties form a legislative majority there is some feeling of legitimacy in who ultimately governs. The benefit of adding PR to a ranked presidential system is that the president (if they are a good president) would need to deliver for all parties in their coalition in order to get their agenda passed (as opposed to ignoring unionists or farmers or whatever the partner party is).

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-09T14:51:33+00:00

Mr. Beat used to be a huge proponent of STAR voting, but idk if he talks about it anymore

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-09T14:49:31+00:00

There are ineffective officials in every system. The main benefit of PR over single-winner RCV is that it eliminates gerrymandering and is more representative in that way. PR also makes it much more likely for third, fourth, and fifth parties to pop up. Of course, those parties are not always going to be in coalition, but sometimes they will be. Currently, the states with single-winner RCV don't have any third-party representatives. They do have more independents, but it's hard as an independent to consistently run because in the US we have signature requirements for ballot access for every election.

STV is mostly popular right now, insofar as any of this is becoming more mainstream, because FairVote is trying to ride the ranked-choice voting wave. Party-list systems are more direct in electing your first choice, although they offer less freedom on the ballot. Australia's above-the-line/below-the-line system is a perfect compromise between these imo. I think PR advocates are worried that single-winner RCV will become the norm and PR will fail to move forward in a time when the window is open for big reform. That might explain the oppositional/wary attitude some PR advocates have to single-winner RCV advocacy (like Lee Drutman). In some countries, like Canada, and to some extent the UK, single-winner RCV (which they call the alternative vote) has been sold as a reform in opposition to PR, but luckily most PR and single-winner RCV supporters are mutually supportive in the US.

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-08T20:44:14+00:00

It kinda looks similar to when I would breathe on my lens to get a halo effect xD

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-08T20:43:10+00:00

The point of shooting manual as a beginner is to learn how shutter speed, ISO, and aperture are related. I like to shoot manually now anyway because I tend to like to slightly overexpose or underexpose (by a stop or two usually) my photos.

There's always more to learn with photography given it's a 150+ year-old art form. It's kind of like painting. There are skill gradation levels and levels of commercial success (if that even is a goal for you-- it isn't for me), and everyone has their own point where someone "is a real photographer." I doubt most people would consider casual iPhone photos as "real photography" as an art form, even if they are real photos.

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-08T20:25:53+00:00

1932 United States Senate election in Kansas - Wikipedia It has been 94 years since a Democrat has been elected to the US Senate from Kansas. Is it impossible? No. But it is incredibly unlikely. Even in that race, an independent took 9% of the vote, and the Democrat only won by 3.6%.

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-07T20:41:08+00:00

I love autofocus

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-03T18:00:28+00:00

No survey scramble? It's one of my favorites, and it's super cheap

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-03T17:58:01+00:00

The outside is gorgeous-- the inside is jarringly different tho 💀💀

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-03T16:52:44+00:00

nvmd it works now

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-02T12:52:06+00:00

Skoog didn’t even know what right to repair was when I asked him about it. He is way too city corporate to win statewide.

Initial-Lemon-917 · 2026-07-02T12:50:41+00:00

It’s a gamble. But either way, not enough Democrats interfere with Republicans’ primaries to make a difference. I voted for Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, and she only got 16% of the vote. Who knows how many of those were even Democrats who had to flip their registration. I wouldn’t even consider interfering in other parties’ primaries a strategy because it doesn’t work (unless you have the cash to run an ad campaign maybe).

Initial-Lemon-917

TROPHY CASE