Jul 23 2008
Boyda: In trouble?
On the short list of Democrats listed as vulnerable in November listed in today’s Politico is Nancy Boyda.
“If there’s one moment in the freshman congresswoman’s brief congressional career that could come back to haunt her, it’s when she walked out of a House Armed Services Committee hearing last July during retired Army Gen. Jack Keane’s testimony after he suggested that the surge was showing signs of success.
“There was only so much you could take until we, in fact, had to leave the room for a while,” Boyda said upon returning to the hearing.
While her actions might have been celebrated in some congressional districts, the 2nd District of Kansas is not one of them. It’s solidly Republican, veteran-heavy and home to Fort Riley, where the Army’s 1st Infantry Division is based. Her sudden departure and her comments will likely be visited again and again during the general election campaign.
“Even nonmilitary personnel understand that when you’re storming out of committee meetings, it’s not doing your job. You’re not representing the district,” Kansas GOP Executive Director Christian Morgan said, previewing a GOP line of attack against Boyda.
Another remark that won’t do Boyda any favors occurred soon after she took office, when she told ABC News that people who aren’t pleased with the course of the Iraq war “should have thought about that before they voted for President Bush not once, but twice” — a comment perhaps best left unsaid in a district that voted for Bush not once, but twice.
Boyda will likely face a rematch against Jim Ryun, the Republican incumbent she upset in 2006, though Ryun first would have to overcome his primary election opponent, former state Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, who is also a credible candidate. ”
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