No joy in record political spending
The economic state of our communities and state makes the numbers seem more shocking than they might in a boom time:
* $1.6 million spent by the 4th Congressional District candidates trying to win a job that pays $174,000 a year.
* $4.74 million spent by the U.S. Senate candidates, also in pursuit of a $174,000-a-year salary.
And it's only July.
True, the GOP primary on Aug. 3 likely is where the high-stakes drama of the Senate succession will end, given that Kansas hasn't elected a Democratic senator since 1932. The Republican nominee, whether Rep. Jerry Moran of Hays or Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Goddard, may not need to spend much to mop up a November victory.
But their more than $4.74 million in combined spending already has obliterated not only the spending for the 1996 Senate primary contest between Sheila Frahm and Sam Brownback (which was $681,000 as of mid-July that year) but also threatens to overtake the total $5.5 million officially spent on that race (Brownback went through a total of $2.1 million; Democrat Jill Docking spent about $1.1 million — amounts that don't include the unreported millions of dollars spent by third-party groups).
This time, the Republicans' profligate campaign spending is coming from two avowed fiscal conservatives during a time of intense voter anxiety about spending.
It grates further because Moran and Tiahrt are nearly interchangeable on the issues. As Topeka Capital-Journal columnist Ric Anderson observed over the weekend: "Come on, nearly $5 million to split hairs?"
For its part, the race to replace Tiahrt already has seen $1.6 million spent, mostly in the nasty fight between GOP front-runners Mike Pompeo and Wink Hartman. Meanwhile, state Rep. Raj Goyle, D-Wichita, has racked up his own $1.2 million, most of it ready to be spent should he dispatch primary rival Robert Tillman.
The 4th District spending already has exceeded the total $1.38 million spent by Tiahrt and Democratic challenger Randy Rathbun in 1996, even nearing the total $1.74 million spent by Tiahrt and Democrat Carlos Nolla in 2002.
And it's only July.
In the context of the current campaigns, it's hard to believe that Tiahrt spent just $42,400 on TV ads to unseat Democratic incumbent Dan Glickman in 1994.
None of Kansas' races come close to the stratospheric spending of races in states such as Arizona, Connecticut, California and Nevada (where the total spending this election cycle already ranges from $17 million to $21 million).
But they are rubbing frugal Kansans the wrong way all the same, especially when so much of the spending is on negative ads.
After the state's two historic 1996 contests electing Brownback and Pat Roberts to the Senate saw $8.7 million spent — about $8 for every Kansan who voted that November — state party officials called such totals "out of control" and "scary."
Many Kansans already would apply such terms to what they're seeing spent this year.
And it's only July.
This story was originally published July 20, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "No joy in record political spending."