Meltdown

"Who would have thought that some little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness."

Like the witch in The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Phill Kline's future is melting before our eyes. Sleazy ads peddling accusations that the alleged victim chose to drop, his Republican predecessors endorsing his Democratic rival, and that rival beating him in fundraising were all just warm-up acts.

First, today's Iola Register (what, you don't read the Register?) has a letter from local sheriff Tom Williams, in which he withdraws his endorsement because of Kline's lying ads. Kline has touted his sheriff endorsements every chance he gets, so this looks really bad.

Then, former Republican AG Bob Stephan, who quit in protest and endorsed Morrison over Kline's church-based fundraising, has raised the stakes higher. He's asking the Kansas Government Ethics Commission to investigate whether that fundraising was legal. I can't say I've ever found the KGEC terribly helpful, but I don't know if that reflects a pro-incumbent bias, or just weak campaign finance laws. Either way, Kline enters the last week of his political career tarnished badly by his own friends.

The speculation has always been that, after he loses, Kline could just be appointed by the Johnson County Republican Party to fill out Paul Morrison's unfinished term as County DA. Pober points out though, that Kline Isn't Qualified for DA:

Pursuant to KSA 22a-102, a DA has to be an attorney for five years prior to seeking office. Before serving as AG, Kline wasn't a real attorney. (He's still not a real attorney). He was a radio talk show host. Therefore, Kline only has four years of lawyering under his belt. He doesn't meet the statutory minimum requirements for DA.

It's amazing ... but ... the sitting Attorney General isn't qualified to serve as a DA !!!

Pober speculates that Ashcroft protegé, proto-fascist anti-immigration racist and UMKC law professor Kris Kobach will be named instead. Uggh.

Bonus "What a world, what a world" moment: Click through to the Pitch's interview with Phill Kline to learn what made them say "it's a rare politician who can spoon-feed an ink-stained meat patty such choice cuts of hypocrisy."