Kassebaum Baker says ‘interesting times ahead’ after Trump’s election

When the election results started rolling in earlier this month, former Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker admits she was a bit startled by the outcome.

Then she thought about it.

“Clearly, he (Donald Trump) represented a voice – the voice even of some of my neighbors who are strong supporters – that there wasn’t much getting done and maybe he could shake things up,” she said this week from her Morris County ranch.

“And, as the election tightened up, I heard so many of my friends – not necessarily in Kansas – who said, ‘We don’t like Trump, but we can’t stand Hillary (Clinton).’ They were tired of hearing her.”

These are interesting times, Kassebaum Baker said.

New recognition

At 84, Kassebaum Baker still watches with interest the politics of Washington, D.C., and Topeka.

She is one of Kansas’ most senior politicians, and her legacy as a U.S. senator from Kansas cast her for nearly two decades as one of the most powerful women in the nation.

She became the second woman – Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was the first – to be elected senator in her own right, not preceded by a husband or appointed to fulfill an unexpired term.

Kassebaum Baker served from Jan. 3, 1978, to Jan. 3, 1997, winning more than 70 percent of the vote in her re-election campaigns. She was the first woman from Kansas elected to the Senate and, for many, was the voice of moderate Republicans.

On Friday, the public is invited to join her at 10 a.m. in Topeka at the Capitol as she and her late father, Alfred M. Landon, become the newest inductees for the Kansas Walk of Honor. Their bronze plaques will join 14 other notable Kansans that include Clyde Cessna, Walter Chrysler, Bob Dole, Amelia Earhart, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gordon Parks.

Kassebaum Baker’s father made a fortune as an independent oilman before being elected governor of Kansas and serving from 1933 to 1937. He also was the 1936 Republican nominee for president.

He was a beloved senior statesman for the GOP in his later years.

The election

In her 18 years as a senator, Kassebaum Baker developed a reputation for having a thoughtful, moderate voice. She shaped national debates and swung the votes of senators who followed her lead.

That was then. This is now.

There is the future to ponder, she said, and this past election to consider.

“I don’t know where we are headed, but I didn’t have confidence in him (Trump) handling foreign policy. And those are major issues for us today,” she said.

On the other hand, Clinton had experience and had served in the Senate.

“She knew the importance of working across the aisle,” Kassebaum Baker said.

But as the campaign continued, “It was harder for her to get off her agenda where she talked about what she had done and would do and get down and go to the county fairs and just talk with people.

“She was in a crowded field, and I think Bernie Sanders was a good thing for her campaign. She should have taken it more seriously on how he had galvanized the younger generations.”

The key with a Trump presidency, she said, will be whom he appoints to critical positions.

“It is important to get good people around him, and I have questions about him in my own mind at this juncture,” she said.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence, she said, offers a good balance for Trump.

Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, is troubling, particularly for what many see as racist views, she said.

“Bannon is someone who represents views that certainly I would find not acceptable at all in the White House or anywhere,” she said. “I think there is that sentiment in some areas in our country, but it should have no place in the White House.”

She said she hopes Rudy Giuliani is not selected as secretary of state.

And even though Clinton won the popular vote, the Electoral College should remain part of the system, she said.

“We have checks and balances in the system, and the Electoral College is part of that,” she said. “People say it doesn’t work these days, but I guess that depends on whose side you are on.”

Getting engaged

Going forward, Kassebaum Baker said, Kansans need to get more involved in their communities – and spend less time on Facebook.

Kassebaum Baker first served on the Maize school board, then she looked for other ways to serve in the government.

“I think it is important for people to get involved and not enclose themselves around either the Republican or Democrat handbook,” she said.

Last week as part of a Veterans Day celebration, she traveled to Wichita to take part in a JROTC program. She said she was impressed with the young cadets.

“Their future will be very different than the one we have today,” she said. “They will have robots doing surgeries, drones delivering mail.”

And that technology, she said, is a good thing. But she is afraid people are losing their ability to simply talk with each other – without the use of electronic gadgets.

“We have to be engaged in our communities. That doesn’t change. Those friendships we develop – trust and respect – happen when we are working with other people,” she said. “I think it (those friendships) gets lost with how social media takes over and how political campaigns take place. That’s how Trump reached everybody; he tweeted at 3 a.m., and it went to millions.”

What’s lost, she said, is the ability for families and friends to sit around tables and talk about public affairs.

She encourages Kansans to get involved with local politics – with school boards and city or county governments – and be supportive of school activities.

Kassebaum Baker is pleased with how many of the Kansas election races turned out, especially in seeing some candidates who have moderate views win legislative seats.

“It is important that our Legislature in Kansas – just as in Washington – can debate issues and realize the need for there to be changes,” she said. “Some of that debate will be in rural communities where education needs additional funding, because rural communities make up Kansas.”

She hopes Kansas will be supportive of Medicaid expansion, because she sees how rural hospitals have been hurt.

“There needs to be an understanding of how we can and should change things for the importance of the future growth of Kansas,” she said.

She is pleased with the retention of the state’s Supreme Court justices.

“It was important to not take our courts into the political arena.”

And between now and the next election, she is hopeful Kansans will study up on their Kansas history and civics issues.

“We need leadership,” she said. “But we also need good followers in bringing balance, trust and understanding – even if you don’t always agree.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 10:09 AM with the headline "Kassebaum Baker says ‘interesting times ahead’ after Trump’s election."