Can Sam Brownback Survive?

Even before his election as governor in 2010, liberal observers were warning about Sam Brownback. In October of that year, the New York Times warned that the mere prospect of Brownback’s ascent was “redefining” the Republican party. That’s certainly been his goal. Operating on the assumption that change in the states drives change in Washington, Brownback has, over the past four years, slashed income taxes, privatized Medicaid, expanded gun rights, and taken on the state’s teachers’ unions.

Those reforms may have made him a hero to conservatives, but they have also made him a major target this election cycle. For Democrats, the former senator and 2008 presidential candidate is a high-profile scalp whose defeat would galvanize liberals across the country. Implementing his agenda also meant alienating the state’s many moderate Republicans, whom Brownback actively and successfully tried to defeat in the 2012 state legislative elections; for them, picking him off is a matter of simple revenge. Several of them have joined a group of over 100 Republicans to support Brownback’s Democratic challenger, the state’s house minority leader, Paul Davis.

Outside money from both sides has poured into the race, including $2.8 million on advertisements alone even before the end of September. The governor’s tax-cutting agenda has also attracted the attention of liberal journalists, who have denounced him en masse in an attempt to make Kansas an illustration of the catastrophe of conservative governance.

“Brownbackistan” is now a Facebook group and the name of a Tumblr account; it is emblazoned on T-shirts and has its own entry in Urban Dictionary. Philadelphia Magazine called it “the Koch Bros. experiment with making Kansas stupider, meaner, and more difficult.”

The best thing about this article is that it correctly describes the Kansas Republican Party. It is one of the most liberal Republican state level parties, reflecting the long tradition of Republicanism in tension with the new rise of conservatism in the state.

Conservatives have won the recent battles as evidenced by these so called “100 Republican moderates” who support Davis. They are not moderates, they are liberals, and they are also has beens, with a sizable proportional reaching out to the press from their nursing home. These people are the losers in the fight for control of the Republican party and they are trying to get back into the mix by becoming Democrats, except that the Democrat Party has practically ceased to exist here.

Greg Orman, a dyed in the wool Democrat, is running as an Independent in the U.S. Senate race hoping to fool enough voters who are somewhat liberal but would never vote for a Democrat. Brownback is fighting back and his economic plan is producing results despite the temporary loss of revenue. Prairie states need to function differently in order to stem the loss of well educated young people and Brownback gets that part. A Democrat paradise this will never be.

I think once more people understand that Paul Davis is an Obama disciple (he was an Obama delagate twice!), Brownback will start to gain traction in the polls. Obama is *deeply* unpopular in this state, and he will be a millstone around Davis' neck in the coming weeks.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Governor Brownback for lowering my state taxes. This came at a very difficult time financially for me, so it was most welcome. In a day and age when most politicians are scheming to get into my pocketbook, Brownback took action to help me, a struggling taxpayer. You can bet I will be voting for him in November. Heck, I will even be sending his campaign a few bucks.

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