Star's Sneaky Boost of Funkhouser Bid

To no one's great surprise, the Kansas City Star editorialists have decided that Mark Funkhouser ought not be re-elected mayor of Kansas City.  Given the history of Star endorsements, however, one has to wonder whether they were not subconsciously hoping to boost his candidacy.  One recalls, for instance, the stirring Star endorsement of Kay Barnes for Congress.  That and a $2.5 million war chest netted Barnes 37 percent of the vote in an election that Star reporters predicted would be a nail-biter.  As Wikipedia notes, "[Sam] Graves even trounced her in the areas of the district closer to Kansas City."  The closer to Kansas City the more clearly the voters remembered how she and City Council collaborators like Deb Hermann and Jim Rowland nearly bankrupted the city through a series of ill-inspired tax breaks to developers.  Barnes was the Star's kind of mayor.