Nancy Boyda

Nancy, Nancy, Nancy,
Why must you make it so much harder to get re-elected? What is the point of not accepting campaign funds from the DCCC? Because you won as an "independent Democrat" in 2006 after losing by 15 points in 2004 with support from the national party?

Boyda has said, in fact, that she made that decision based on experience. The 2006 race was her second consecutive try to unseat Ryun. Two years earlier, she was strongly supported by the national party and had high-powered advisers on hand — and lost to the Republican incumbent by 15 percentage points.

“She ran an independent campaign for the 2nd District of Kansas [in 2006] and that was what was behind her decision not to be included,” Boyda chief of staff Shannan Guinn told CQPolitics.com on Friday in explaining Boyda’s decision to turn down the DCCC’s Frontline offer. “

Could it also have been due to the fact that in 2004 there was a generally popular Republican President in George W. Bush at the top of the ticket while in 2006, there was a very popular Democratic Governor in Kathleen Sebelius at the top of the ticket and widespread disapproval of the Republican Party around the country that contributed significantly to your victory?

Don't get me wrong, I voted for you in '06 and I'd do it again if I still lived in your district, but why create an uphill battle in an already tough fight? I appreciate and applaud your desire to be independent from and not beholden to special interests. But it looks like you are already $80,000 behind your now declared opponent, Jim Ryun, who outraised you by $400,000 during the campaign. Plus, you're feeding the conservative machine that regularly and gleefully proclaims that Democrats are divided. What is the danger in being associated with the Party you represent in Congress in a state that now boasts a 48-44 edge in self identified Democrats versus Republicans.