From the invaluable McClatchy service comes word that Phill Kline, famous for his drive to shut down Planned Parenthood clinics and subpoena the records of patients in a search for women who had had abortions, has lost his bid to become the DA in a Kansas City suburb.

What's significant here is that outsiders spent six figures -- maybe more -- in an effort to boost Kline's candidacy.
Abortion played a key role in the race because Kline is the first prosecutor since Roe v. Wade to file criminal charges against a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Abortion opponents from outside Kansas are thought to have spent more than $100,000 to keep Kline's candidacy alive. says part of the story linked above.

Is the tide turning? Are one-issue, special-interest, big-money groups beginning, at long last, to FAIL in pushing the conservative agenda (family values such as misogyny and homophobia) down the nation's throat at last?

Who can say? What I know is, I am very glad to hear that Kline not only didn't get re-elected to his Kansas state post last year, but now has failed again in a bid to put himself in a position to stick his nose into affairs that are none of his business.

[Democrat Rick] Guinn said he was looking forward to the fall campaign.

"The voters have rejected Kline's leadership," Guinn said. "They want an office led by a veteran prosecutor, not a politician with a personal agenda, and my 27 years of successfully prosecuting dangerous criminals makes me the most qualified candidate for the job."

Guinn will face the man who beat Kline in the GOP primary, Steve Howe.

NRO's Kathryn Jean Lopez penned a paean to Kline mourning his defeat -- and upbraiding Sam Brownback for endorsing Howe instead, saying Brownback now has a responsibility to ensure that whoever the new DA is must carry on the fight against Planned Parenthood clinics where child abuse allegedly takes place. Brownback contributed to Kline's demise, and Kline's Family Research Council speeches and trips to DC hurt his candidacy unfairly by making him seem to be anti-abortion forces' last best hope, because, she said, he's a "solid law-and-order" guy.

Right.

And I'm Chuck Norris's stunt double.