Some takeaways from Saturday’s marathon political forum:
• Scott Morgan would re-center the office of secretary of state. Current office-holder Kris Kobach has used the position as a springboard to national fame in efforts to suppress voter rights and immigration to the United States. Both candidates are Republicans, but Morgan comes across as more interested in what he can do for the job, not vice-versa.
• Yes, it’s a free world, so to speak, but if Alvin Zahnter wins the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate, the party will have a very hard time maintaining its credibility. Zahnter, 78, is a shoot-’em-up Yosemite Sam character ready to “take ’em out in Washington, D.C.”
Compromise is not in his lexicon.
• Milton Wolf, also a candidate on the Republican ticket for Sen. Pat Roberts’ seat, is no better. A Kansas City surgeon, Wolf said owning guns is a “God-given right.”
Would God even need a gun?
• Robin Lais’s sound bites against Gov. Sam Brownback lacked the depth needed to be a serious contender for the Republican nomination for governor. Lais is running as lieutenant governor on the ticket with Jennifer Winn. Brownback’s “Road map for Kansas” has caught the nation’s attention — mostly for the bad — providing plenty of fodder for opponents. After vague hints about declining business and home sales in Wichita because of the tax cuts, Lais preferred to pitch her own varied career, including the benefits of aromatherapy products.
• When the Rev. Bill LaPorte, Moran, says he may vote for a Democrat, you know things are bad. The staunch conservative lauded Rep. Adam Lusker, the Democratic representative from Frontenac, for showing up at Saturday’s forum.
“I feel us Republicans are being taken advantage of by the candidates who didn’t bother to show up today,” LaPorte said.
Of the 33 registered, several candidates were no-shows and many used stand-ins.
• And lastly, being able to milk a cow should not be a qualification for running for political office. Yes, Allen County Farm Bureau sponsored the event, but surely, even farmers must have been offended by how many of the candidates felt it necessary to begin their presentations by saying how comfortable they feel around livestock.
What we need is the commonsense of farmers, which some of Saturday’s presenters failed to grasp.
— Susan Lynn
