Darwin's allies rally for a Kansas election

KANSAS CITY, Kansas God and Charles Darwin were not on the primary ballot in Kansas on Tuesday, but once again a contentious schools election has religion and science at odds in a state that has restaged a three- quarter-century-old battle over the teaching of evolution.

Less than a year after a conservative Republican majority on the State Board of Education adopted the most far- reaching standards in the United States defining science education in ways that challenge Darwin's theory of evolution, moderate Republicans and Democrats are mounting a fierce counterattack to retake power and switch the standards back to what they call conventional science.

The Kansas election is being watched closely by both sides in the national debate over the way evolution should be taught in science classes

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Though there is no reliable polling data available, Joseph Aistrup, head of political science at Kansas State University in Manhattan, said that sharp ideological splits among Republicans and an unusual community of interest among moderate Republicans and some Democrats are helping challengers in the primary.

Kansas Democrats have a strong standard-bearer in the incumbent governor, Kathleen Sebelius, who has distanced herself from the debate. Aistrup said. "And if a conservative candidate makes it through the primary, there's a Democratic challenger waiting" in the general election, he said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/01/news/evolution.php

We're voting Democratic. We're voting for Waugh and not Jesse Hill. Hill thinks Waugh spends too much time fighting on already settled issues like creationism and opt-in sex ed classes. We need real science standards and sex ed class for all - no opt ins.