The political fallout from Thursday’s blood-letting at City Hall?

A whole host of possibilities loom. Let’s rack ‘em up:

1. The City Council gets a rare shot at a fresh start. Could be good.

But….

2. Council members are at each other’s throats again. Councilman Ed Ford is saying publicly that he’s lost faith in his colleagues because he was kept in the dark about the big move that resulted in the ouster of City Manager Wayne Cauthen until 90 minutes before Thursday’s meeting.

And the council was split even-steven on the ouster of Cauthen.

That hurts.

3. Mayor Mark Funkhouser looks on the most cursory of levels to be in charge again because he’s been the most outspoken advocate for Cauthen’s departure.

But…

4. The reports out of City Hall on Friday were conflicting about who exactly led the coup. Some City Hall sources said those honors go to Councilman Bill Skaggs.

5. Give the mayor some credit. The fear inside the cabal of Cauthen ousters was that the mayor would reverse course and refuse to go along with the coup because he didn’t want to give up a handy issue for his 2011 re-election bid.

A re-election race against Cauthen and against the status quo at City Hall could have been a powerful rallying cry. But Funkhouser didn’t give in to that temptation.

But…

5. One of Funkhouser’s top priorities is developing good relations with his council colleagues. Let me say this slowly: That…still…isn’t…happening.

6. The view from here? The giant mess at 12th and Locust suggests a throw-the-bums-out election in 2011.

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 Right now, Patricia Lightner and three little-knowns, Daniel Gilyeat, Thomas Scherer and John Rysavy, are the only Republicans actively campaigning to defeat Kansas’ Democratic incumbent Congressman Dennis Moore next year.

 But all three can expect more company soon.

Last week, three prominent Republicans said they were actively exploring a run: Nick Jordan, who was the 2008 GOP nominee; Charlotte O’Hara, who ran unsuccessfully twice against Annabeth Surbaugh for a spot on the Johnson County Commission, and Greg Musil, an Overland Park lawyer who ran for the seat in 2000.

 All are saying Moore, who won his last race 56-40 percent over Jordan, is in trouble.

Said O’Hara: “He’s very vulnerable. He’s become a voting machine for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.”

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An intriguing little nugget surfaced last week at the sentencing hearing for former Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith, a St. Louis Democrat.

Smith had pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with a failed 2004 run for Congress.

Turns out that one reason Smith was given a year in the slammer and a $50,000 fine is because he refused to cooperate with the feds and wear a wire.

The FBI, apparently, was seeking to broaden its case by going after some of Smith’s friends. All that, of course, raises some questions: Who else were the feds after?

And for what?

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Missouri Congressman Ike Skelton, a 17-term Democratic incumbent, last week suffered another crack in his political armor.

The respected Cook Political Report altered its much-watched rating on Skelton’s odds for winning re-election next year. Cook switched it from a “likely” Democratic seat to one that only “leans” Democratic.

That’s a pretty unusual position for Skelton, who won in 2008 by 66-34 percent.

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To clarify a point from last week: Democrats, indeed, have a candidate — maybe even two! — for the U.S. Senate in Kansas.

The lucky winner of the Democratic primary gets a faceoff with either Republican Jerry Moran or Todd Tiahrt, either of whom would be heavily favored.

The two Democrats are Charles Schollenberger of Prairie Village and Patrick Coriolan, who has yet to file any campaign reports.

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You knew it would happen:

A new Web site, readtovote.org, is dedicated to pressuring members of Congress to read “every word of every bill.”

What a concept.

To reach Steve Kraske, call 816-234-4312 or send e-mail to skraske@kcstar.com.