It does seem like an odd play for Sebelius to have a former Republican run as a Democrat for Governor – that’s not really the way you grow a party from the ground up. And it’s not like Sebelius’s track record of recruiting party switchers is really all that hot. Look at the last guy she wooed. That worked out well.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has given Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson several high-profile policy assignments, suggesting she’s grooming him to be her successor when she can’t seek another term in 2010.He is co-chairman of the Kansas Energy Council, something that’s made him a spokesman for her administration in an important policy area. Last week, she also appointed him to lead a new group that will promote wind energy.

She also has made him the leader of a renewed effort to make state government more efficient that she’s calling BEST II. She launched the original BEST — it stands for Budget Efficiency and Savings Teams — just before taking office in January 2003.

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