The Republican primary for the Kansas State School Board was held yesterday, and of the 3 4 pro-creationist incumbants up for re-election, two were defeated by pro-science moderates. (There was also a moderate up for reelection, but she won her primary handily.) The third has other two have a Democratic challenger in the general election and may be defeated there. But no matter what, moderates will have at least a 6-4 majority on the board, and the ID curriculum will be no more.
Red State Rabble has the scoop and Nick of the Panda's Thumb has some good analysis. Nick wonders aloud whether or not ID is finished as a political force, since despite heavy funding and campaigning, they have lost just about everywhere that it counts:
The ID movement has been pushing the “intelligent design” strategy for 16 years now, and what has it accomplished? What has the Discovery Institute got to show for the several million bucks it has spent on ID each year for the last 10 years? In three very different forums (court, board politics, and elections), their approach has been rejected. Despite a lot of propaganda claiming they are doing research, the ID movement has nothing but a handful of articles, all of which, upon inspection, fail to be (a) peer-reviewed, (b) original research, and/or (c} actually supportive of ID.
Like Nick, I'm not ready to call the whole thing over, but I do hope that politicians in South Carolina get the message and realize that attacking science education is a proven way to lose your job.
