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Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach officially kicks off 2020 Senate campaign
KC Star ^ | 7/8/19 | Bryan Lowrey & Jonathan Shoreman

Posted on 07/08/2019 2:50:05 PM PDT by DoodleDawg

Kansas Republican Kris Kobach kicked off his campaign for the U.S. Senate Monday, sparking an immediate backlash from national Republicans who fear he could cost the party a seat it has held for eight decades.

The former Kansas secretary of state gathered supporters in Leavenworth Monday afternoon to officially announce his candidacy for the open Senate seat with a fiery speech that took aim at illegal immigration, the dangers of socialism and the unwillingness of Republican Party leaders to stand up for President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“President Trump needs a senator who will lead the charge for him,” Kobach said. “This is not a time for a quiet senator. It’s not a time for a senator who wants to make everybody happy and doesn’t want to take a stand. It’s not a time for a senator who is Republican-lite.”

Kobach’s campaign launch comes less than a year after he lost the 2018 race for governor despite Trump’s full-throated support in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats 2 to 1.

(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Kansas
KEYWORDS: 2020election; election2020; gopprimary; kansas; kobach; kriskobach; ks2020; senate
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To: Hieronymus

Well, Trump really wasn’t a politician, so that’s what sets him apart.

I don’t believe Dole intended to lose (Willard and McQueeg DID), but he took the wrong approach in campaigning. He wanted to look like the mature and grown-up leader. Dole was leading Clintoon in 1995 as the country had quickly realized they made a terrible mistake. What ruined it was largely due to Gingrich folding like a cheap suit over the government funding “shutdown” in late ‘95. Had he held firm to the last and prevailed, the GOP would’ve had clear sailing to the ‘96 election (even with a lackluster Dole).

Even had Dole not gotten into the race, we didn’t exactly have a dazzling team of candidates. That the party wanted to recruit Colon “Blow” Powell (as he led Bubba in the polls) demonstrates how bad it might’ve ended up. Powell would’ve been a one-man Marxist wrecking crew as President, a total fake. That he was so excited for Zero proved that this buffoon was race first, country dead last.


41 posted on 07/08/2019 5:23:38 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Who will think of the gerbils ? Just say no to Buttgiggity !)
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To: DoodleDawg

Kris Kobach can win in a Presidential election year. I know him personally and his work on immigration. He is among the most impressive people I have ever met. Kris would make an outstanding senator.


42 posted on 07/08/2019 5:25:43 PM PDT by kabar
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To: Conserv

Kobach also won a statewide election as Secretary of State.


43 posted on 07/08/2019 5:26:40 PM PDT by kabar
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To: DoodleDawg

I had relatives in Kansas. There does seem to be kind of an ingrained moderation or centrism to the Republicans there. Resembles the boring flat terrain


44 posted on 07/08/2019 5:31:47 PM PDT by rintintin (q)
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To: AuH2ORepublican

One other substantive candidate in the race at present is State Treasurer Jake LaTurner. The only downside (besides perhaps his youth, he would become the youngest Senator at just short of 33 in Jan 2021) is that he was a somewhat lackluster State Senator, garnering a paltry 75% Conservative rating from the ACU during his time there.

Even at that, it wouldn’t be enough to appease the RINO “Moderate” moonbats, who would still treat this actual Moderate squishy like he was Trump.

Dave Lindstrom is another in the race and is running as a strong Trumper:
https://lindstromsenate.com/meet-dave/

He has previously held office (in Johnson County) and is an ex-football player.

Open Secrets only has LaTurner listed with respect to fundraising, and at a modest $305k.


45 posted on 07/08/2019 5:33:45 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Who will think of the gerbils ? Just say no to Buttgiggity !)
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To: rintintin

Post #35.


46 posted on 07/08/2019 5:40:13 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Who will think of the gerbils ? Just say no to Buttgiggity !)
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To: Conserv
Kobach was born in Madison, Wisconsin on March 26, 1966 and his family moved to Topeka, Kansas when he was 7. His father owned a Buick dealership, where he worked while in high school. In 1984, Kobach graduated from Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kansas, where he was co-valedictorian, and class president.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude and first in his department. The director of Harvard's Center for International Affairs, Professor Samuel P. Huntington, was Kobach's faculty advisor from 1984 to 1988. Huntington believed that migration, especially from Mexico and Latin America, represented the most perilous threat to what he called the "American identity." When Kobach taught law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Huntington's writings were required reading in the course.

From Harvard, Kobach went on to earn an M.A. and D.Phil. in Politics at the University of Oxford, attending having been granted a Marshall Scholarship. Returning to the U.S., he earned a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1995 and became an editor of the Yale Law Journal. During this time, Kobach published two books: The Referendum: Direct Democracy in Switzerland (Dartmouth, 1994), and Political Capital: The Motives, Tactics, and Goals of Politicized Businesses in South Africa (University Press of America, 1990).

From 1995 to 1996, Kobach clerked for Judge Deanell R. Tacha of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Lawrence, Kansas. He began his professorship at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) shortly thereafter.

In 2001, President George W. Bush awarded him a White House Fellowship to work for Attorney General John Ashcroft. At the end of the fellowship, he stayed on as Counsel to the Attorney General. Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, he led a team of attorneys and researchers who formulated and established the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. In addition, he took part in work to reshape the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2002. After his government service ended, he returned to UMKC to teach law until he was elected Kansas Secretary of State.

Kobach has litigated numerous lawsuits defending cities and states that adopt laws to discourage illegal immigration. He served as lead lawyer defending the city of Valley Park, Missouri in a federal case concerning an ordinance that requires businesses to use a federal worker verification program known as E-Verify in order to maintain a business license. The ordinance was upheld by Missouri federal judge E. Richard Webber on January 31, 2008 (Gray v. Valley Park, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7238).[31][38] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), representing the plaintiff, appealed the case to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Kobach prevailed on appeal, and the Court allowed the Valley Park ordinance to stand (Gray v. Valley Park, 567 F.3d 976 (8th Cir. 2009)), saying that the ordinance "addresses the employment of illegal aliens, not Hispanics."

47 posted on 07/08/2019 5:42:27 PM PDT by kabar
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To: fieldmarshaldj

I think I would agree that Dole intended to win.

I supported Buchan in ‘92 and ‘96.

I still don’t think he would have done any worse than Dole. And think he probably would have done better.


48 posted on 07/08/2019 6:03:31 PM PDT by Hieronymus ("I shall drink--to the Pope, if you please,-still, to Conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards.")
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To: kabar

Yet, he’s a horrible, ineffective candidate.


49 posted on 07/08/2019 6:06:16 PM PDT by Conserv
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To: Hieronymus

Buchanan would’ve picked up some working-class Democrats (many of whom who went for Trump in 2016), but too many of the suburbanites would’ve fled the ticket. The GOP would’ve written him off entirely (a la Goldwater in ‘64). As a result, it would’ve been enough for the Republicans to have swiftly lost Congress (1996 had been the first time since 1928 that the GOP had last won the majority two elections in a row to Congress).


50 posted on 07/08/2019 6:09:54 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Who will think of the gerbils ? Just say no to Buttgiggity !)
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To: Conserv

How was he “horrible” and “ineffective” ?


51 posted on 07/08/2019 6:10:52 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Who will think of the gerbils ? Just say no to Buttgiggity !)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

As others have posted, he lost the Governor’s race.

I think that flop speaks for itself.


52 posted on 07/08/2019 6:18:48 PM PDT by Conserv
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To: fieldmarshaldj

After Reagan, I’m not sure being written off by the GOP would have been the kiss of death it was for Goldwater.

I’m sure that Pat would have put up a heck of a fight.

I’m not going to the wall on this one. I’m pleasantly surprised by Trump—the rest of the field eventually pretty well all stank, which made it easier to swallow Trumps rough spots.

At one point I regretted that Walker had thrown in the towel so early.


53 posted on 07/08/2019 6:19:27 PM PDT by Hieronymus ("I shall drink--to the Pope, if you please,-still, to Conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards.")
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To: DoodleDawg

Is he a RINO, or does Kansas only like RINOs?


54 posted on 07/08/2019 6:40:34 PM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (Proud to be a DeplorableAmerican with a Deplorable Family...even the dog is, too. :-))
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To: Conserv

Not really. You used two pejoratives without a substantive criticism. Candidates lose sometimes and manage to make a comeback. Kobach ran for the State Senate in 2000 against a left-wing RINO and lost the primary. He ran in 2004 against a Democrat U.S. House incumbent (Dennis Moore) and lost. He was a “two-time loser” by the time he ran for Secretary of State in 2010 and prevailed with 59% of the vote statewide. He got fractionally higher than his 2010 performance in 2014, even as Brownback poorly performed.

Reagan lost the Presidential race in 1976 to Ford and yet he made a comeback, should we have similarly dismissed him and all other candidates who lost and were trying again ?

Almost any Republican running for Governor of Kansas in 2018 would’ve been in a difficult position. Jeff Colyer likely would’ve lost, too. Kansas LIKES electing Demonrat & RINO Governors. Brownback was the outlier in 5 decades of Governors in 2010 and 2014, the only Conservative Republican elected in 5 decades.

If Kobach had won in 2018, he would’ve been the first Republican to win a 3rd consecutive race for the party for Governor since 1954. Since 1956, with the lone exception of 1964, Kansas has alternated parties for Governor. No Republican or Democrat in that time has passed off the office, except via resignation, to a member of the same party at the next election.

When you attack a candidate, you should understand the facts and the dynamics at play (both of the race, candidate AND the state or locale), and when you don’t, your criticisms can be easily dismissed and seen as ill-informed. You made similarly ill-informed comments regarding Alabama’s Senate race as well recently and used personal insults in place of actual and logical arguments.


55 posted on 07/08/2019 6:44:10 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Who will think of the gerbils ? Just say no to Buttgiggity !)
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To: Conserv

How can you say that? He won a statewide race as Secretary of State. He defeated the acting Governor in the primary, which probably hurt him in the general election in much the same way Cuccinelli lost in VA. Kris was also the chair of the GOP party in Kansas for two years 2007-09.

Kris has been targeted by the SPLC and the ACLU for his work on immigration. Kobach has been the national leader and the brains behind the movement to stop illegal immigration and to strengthen our borders. He has made Kansas a leader in stopping voter fraud.

I have worked with Kris on immigration issues for over a decade. He is one of the most honest and principled persons I have ever known. If he wins the Senate nomination in 2020, he will win the Senate race. The increased voter participation in a Presidential year will ensure a win.


56 posted on 07/08/2019 6:56:50 PM PDT by kabar
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To: Hieronymus

Well, no Republican was going to win in 1964 after the assassination of St. Jack. The GOP Eastern Establishment squishies were worried then that Goldwater would tank the party downballot (back then, even those liberals didn’t want the party to go down in flames). Unfortunately, that actually did happen, and resulted in that horrendous 1965-66 Congress that rubber-stamped LBJ’s insanity.

Pat would’ve been in the same position as Goldwater (and Trump to a degree). He would’ve had both parties against him, the media, Big Ed, pop culture, everything almost. Worse yet, he would’ve had VERY little money. Trump didn’t have such a problem (and had built-in name recognition). Candidates would’ve been scrambling to run away from him (what they did in 1964 with Goldwater, at least many of the incumbents). Ultimately, the House would’ve been lost and Buchanan would’ve maybe ended up with 35-37% of the vote, worse than Goldwater’s 38% in ‘64 and Dole’s 40.7% in ‘96.

RE: Walker. Do you mean Scott Walker ?


57 posted on 07/08/2019 6:59:09 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Who will think of the gerbils ? Just say no to Buttgiggity !)
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To: Deplorable American1776

Conservative.


58 posted on 07/08/2019 6:59:47 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Who will think of the gerbils ? Just say no to Buttgiggity !)
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To: kabar

That individual tends to use pejoratives and personal attacks in lieu of facts and substantive arguments.


59 posted on 07/08/2019 7:00:29 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Who will think of the gerbils ? Just say no to Buttgiggity !)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

Oh God. Not you again.

You back the dumbest candidates, like Roy Moore.


60 posted on 07/08/2019 7:10:23 PM PDT by Conserv
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