Burdett Loomis: No one ‘Kansas’ story this election

Who woudda thunk it? In deep-red Kansas, we’ve got three red-hot statewide races, featuring three nationally prominent Republicans – Gov. Sam Brownback, Sen. Pat Roberts and Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

This oddity has sent reporters scurrying here from New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and even London. No question, it’s bigger than the world’s largest ball of twine.

Overall, the national reporting hasn’t been that bad, but there is a kind of sameness: How did such competition break out in Kansas, of all places, home to GOP dominance over 50 years of presidential elections and 80 years of U.S. Senate contests?

Not all, but many of these reporters want to craft a national story about Kansas in 2014. Maybe there are some national implications, but these races are mostly about holding officeholders accountable.

Arguably, these three Kansas incumbents have overreached, and elections are society’s most powerful way of rendering verdicts on public officials. But their performances are not all of a piece; indeed, Kansas voters must contend with three distinct red-state records.

Brownback has established clear baselines for judging his performance on economic growth, job creation, educational achievements and levels of poverty, among other issues. By and large, the judgments here have been harsh, even as he and his allies argue that his self-proclaimed Kansas economic “experiment” is succeeding. Plunging tax revenues and a series of bond downgrades do not inspire confidence, nor do most objective analyses of the Kansas economy.

It may not be fair to hold a governor responsible for the state’s economy, given the great impact of national conditions. But Brownback has asked to be judged on his economic record.

Judging Roberts’ accountability is far different. Senators do compile long voting histories, of course, but these records are far less concrete than those of governors. A senator can end up on many sides of the same policy, as Roberts has on two critical issues for Kansans: funding for the recent farm bill and for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. Moreover, senators can vote for policies they know will never pass or introduce legislation that will be dead on arrival, claiming credit for their actions all the while.

So, in the end, the senator’s record does not define his accountability. Rather, it’s Roberts himself who – fairly or not – is increasingly seen as detached and out of touch. The genuinely funny Roberts of the 1980s and 1990s has been replaced by a grumpy old man who keeps yelling “Harry Reid.”

Finally, there’s the fascinating case of Kobach. With his crusade against virtually nonexistent voter fraud inside the state and his anti-immigrant crusade outside it, Kobach has come to resemble the anti-abortion zealot Phill Kline, ousted in 2006 after a single term as attorney general. Kobach’s intense politicization of an essentially nonpolitical office prompted more than a third of GOP primary voters to reject his bid for renomination.

There is no single “Kansas” story this fall. Rather, voters in this certifiably red state will decide whether these three Republican incumbents have overreached to the point that they should be defeated.

Maybe, after all, there is a trend. It’s called democracy.

This story was originally published September 19, 2014 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Burdett Loomis: No one ‘Kansas’ story this election."