By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

Having stated her commitment to guiding Kansas through the fiscal crisis, Kathleen Sebelius can't renege and go off to Washington to be Barack Obama's Commerce Secretary. Her word would be trash forever after.

This is especially true since Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson has announced he's not interested in running for governor in two years. With Parkinson making himself irrelevant politically, the Kansas Democrats are rudderless without Sebelius.

Two years ago, remember, Paul Morrison was supposed to be the heavy hitter with a future in Kansas Democratic politics. And of course, this week, the big news is that his former staffer and lover is being subpoenaed to testify about the relationship in a trial involving an abortion provider in Wichita. Morrison's grand deception let a lot of people down.