By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Whatever his motives, I respect Sam Brownback for his decision to support the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
As the Republican U.S. senator noted, he and the Democratic Kansas governor have "profound policy differences."
Do they ever. Access to abortion. Embryonic stem cell research. Tax and spending restraints. Children's health care insurance. Too many to count, really.
But Brownback and Sebelius have worked together on some things. They were part of a huge bipartisan effort to win the bio-defense facility for Manhattan, Kan. And lately, for better or worse, they've joined hands in opposing housing detainees from Guantanamo at Fort Leavenworth.
Maybe Brownback, who is running for governor of Kansas in 2010, calculated the odds and saw he will gain more by earning respect from the state's moderates than by staying in the good graces of the single-issue anti-abortion groups who are so riled up about Sebelius's nomination.
But whatever his reasons, it is good to see Brownback display some of that "Kansas pragmatism," as President Obama called it when introducing Sebelius. For Brownback and his fellow GOP senator, Pat Roberts, support of Sebelius is a classy move.
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Sebelius Owns Barb Shelly
I knew it...Barb Shelly could not go 72 hours without another fawning ovation to Kathleen Sebelius (disguised as a compliment to Sam Brownback) while smacking those who oppose her stance on abortion yet again.
I am not categorically opposed to Sebelius' views up and down the line. What I am opposed to is hacks like Barb Shelly just grinding out the same garbage day after day, changing only the packaging but the contents remaining the same. Show some talent and some insight for once.
Brownie wouldn't know classy
Brownie wouldn't know classy if he found it in his soup. 'Kansas pragmatism' my butt. Kansas political posturing is more like it. With Sebelius out of the way, Sam's a shoe-in for governor, and there's a bonus, too. she isn't running for his old Senate seat.
Neither does classy and BigSteve
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Classy?
Or self-interested? Are you really so naive as to think that it's not in Kansas Republicans' interest to get Sebelius out of the governor's office sooner rather than later?
"Classy" and "Brownback" don't belong in the same universe, much less headline.