Kansas views on ‘busting myths’ tour, Roberts, Orman, Ike memorial
Busting myths – Gov. Sam Brownback’s right-hand man is on a “busting myths” tour. Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer hopes to convince Kansans that the many criticisms of their Republican administration are off base. It’s an impossible task, considering problems related to plummeting state revenue in particular have been well-documented and backed up by nonpartisan sources. Of course, any interest in “busting myths” should start in Brownback’s own backyard. One such myth would be the governor’s repeated claim of the state having just $876 in the bank when he took office. It’s simply not true.
Roberts, Orman – One of Kansas U.S. Senate candidate Greg Orman’s chief campaign points is that Washington, D.C., has become more about partisan politics and not at all about solving the nation’s problems. So it was more than odd – embarrassing, actually – when Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., the man Orman hopes to defeat in November’s election, went way out of his way during the debate at the Kansas State Fair to validate Orman’s point. No matter the topic or question, Roberts repeated his mantra ad nauseam: Harry Reid, Harry Reid, Harry Reid – with an ample supply of “Obamas” and “Hillary Clintons” thrown in. That and accusing Orman, an independent, of being a liberal were about all Roberts had to offer.
It’s good to see Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., get a serious challenge not from the far right of the political spectrum but from the center. It gives hope that the common sense of Kansans remains intact. And it could prove a referendum on disingenuous politicians who change their stripes just to get re-elected.
Greg Orman, an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate, must come up with a better message than the one that he’s disgusted with both parties in Washington, D.C. So are most Americans. Orman must tell Kansans what he’s going to do if he gets to the nation’s capital. Voters need to hear more definitive answers on how the Olathe businessman hopes to get good legislation passed in a setting split by highly partisan politics.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., is a wounded candidate. Voters of all stripes fled from Roberts before they knew who independent candidate Greg Orman was. In our opinion, the job of Roberts’ new campaign managers is to rehabilitate Roberts’ image so his longtime supporters will come home. If the two gurus simply indulge a scorched-earth campaign against the young, attractive Orman, they and their candidate could get badly burned.
Ike memorial – It is time for the National Capital Planning Commission and the Eisenhower Memorial Commission to move the process forward and agree to agree on a design that, while it might not please everyone, will be a fitting memorial to a great man who served his country for decades and proved to be a great leader in times of war and peace. It is amazing that it has taken as long as it has to find the proper way to honor a man so highly regarded as a military leader and so well-liked as president. Ike earned his place among the monuments in our nation’s capital. It’s time to do him justice.
This story was originally published September 14, 2014 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Kansas views on ‘busting myths’ tour, Roberts, Orman, Ike memorial."