Yahoo Movies Biden vs. Brownback
If you live in Kansas, I wouldn’t blame you if you thought this November’s election was a campaign between former Gov. Sam Brownback and President Joe Biden.
In the two most competitive races in the state, the two men — who served in the U.S. Senate together for more than a decade — have come up time and time again.
At the second Kansas gubernatorial debate this week, my colleague Katie Bernard reported that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly repeatedly tried to tie Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt to one of her predecessors, former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
Though Brownback was once a political juggernaut in Kansas, he left office as one of the least popular governors in the country when he received an appointment to work in the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, Schmidt, the GOP nominee, repeatedly attempted to tie Kelly to President Joe Biden, the Democratic president who lost Kansas in 2020 by nearly 15 percentage points and has an approval rating hovering around 42%, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average.
This isn’t exactly new. As politics has become more nationalized — for a variety of reasons including the prevalence of talk radio, cable news, fewer restrictions on campaign finance and the internet — it’s common for campaigns to try and tie their opponents to unpopular figures in their respective political parties.
The exact same debate is taking place in the Kansas 3rd Congressional District, where Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids is trying to tie her Republican opponent, Amanda Adkins, to Brownback and Adkins is trying to tie Davids to Biden.
What is slightly more uncommon is the Democrats’ repeated attempts to evoke the memory of Brownback — particularly how his tax experiment hampered the economy — in their campaigns. A few weeks back, I wrote about how this is happening in large part because Democratic polling shows Brownback is more unpopular than a frequent boogeyman in other races — former President Donald Trump.
The complaint about this type of campaigning is that it takes the focus away from the issues that are actually important to the position and turns it into a political brawl about things that are far removed from the hard work of governing. That’s less noticeable in congressional races, where whoever wins will have to navigate national politics, than it is in something like a gubernatorial election or a statehouse election where the issues are more focused on state and local issues.
But national politics seems to be creeping more and more into those statewide elected offices.
Attorneys general, who are tasked with being the chief law enforcement officer in their states, have increasingly stepped up their political lawsuits against whoever holds the presidency — using the office as a stepping stone. State treasurers banded together in an attempt to stop action on climate change. State auditor candidates are pledging to investigate what schools are teaching, rather than look for fraud and government waste, as my colleague Kacen Bayless reported.
The more politicians get associated with unpopular surrogates and the more national politics leech into state issues, it can become easier for politicians to lose sight of the jobs they were elected to perform and the public to hold them accountable for it.
More from Missouri
The Republican nominee for Missouri auditor says he wants to audit school districts to investigate whether they are teaching Critical Race Theory, a collegiate level topic that has been redefined by conservatives to encompass efforts at diversity, equity and inclusion. Scott Fitzpatrick’s pledge is another sign of the increased nationalization of local elections and would mark a shift in what the auditor’s office examines.
Here are headlines from across the state:
GOP nominee for Missouri auditor wants to investigate schools, ‘Critical Race Theory’, Kacen Bayless
Hawley affirms support for Herschel Walker after report GA Republican paid for abortion, Jonathan Shorman
Parson signs income tax cut, farmer credits to end special session, Kacen Bayless
Planned Parenthood launches mobile abortion clinic to provide access for Missourians, Kacen Bayless
Prosecutors, legalization advocates spar over public safety impact of marijuana vote, Kacen Bayless
And across Kansas
A new ad by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who is running for governor, accuses Gov. Laura Kelly of cutting funding to the police. In fact, public safety funding in Kansas has increased over the past four years. Republicans across the country have been attempting to use crime as a wedge issue to unseat Democrats. Schmidt, the state’s top law enforcement official, leaned heavily into crime during a debate this week as well.
New Schmidt ad claims Kelly cut police funding. But what do the numbers say?, Katie Bernard
Gov. Kelly and AG Schmidt focus on Brownback, Biden in Johnson County debate, Katie Bernard
Kansas foster parents fear state will take 3-year-old from home, Laura Bauer and Katie Bernard
Schools are at the center of gov’s race as Schmidt and Kelly court parents, Katie Bernard and Sarah Ritter
Former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum backs Kelly over former aide Schmidt, Katie Bernard
The latest from Kansas City
In Kansas City …
Kansas City wants to prevent homelessness by cutting evictions. Is it working?, Kynala Phillips
Sex abuse victims outraged over priest’s return to Kansas City, Judy L. Thomas
This building was a Kansas City auto shop. It’s becoming a coffee shop and lounge, Joyce Smith
Have a news tip? Send it along to ddesrochers@kcstar.com
Odds and ends
Foreign farms
Missouri Democratic Senate nominee Trudy Busch Valentine has spent the past few weeks criticizing Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt over a vote he took in 2013, when he was a state senator, changing the law to allow more foreign ownership of farmland in Missouri.
If the attack is familiar, it might be because a PAC supporting former Gov. Eric Greitens hit Schmitt over the same issue during the primary, accusing Schmitt of cozying up to China. The law Schmitt supported allowed a Chinese company to buy out Smithfield Foods in 2013, giving the Chinese-owned company acres of Missouri farmland.
But Busch Valentine’s attack isn’t just shared by Missouri Republicans, it’s been reiterated by Republicans across the country. J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Ohio, made an ad criticizing the foreign ownership of U.S. farmland. So did U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who’s running for reelection in Iowa.
Hawley called false prophet
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican of Missouri, was declared a “false prophet” by Faithful America, an online group of Christians who say they’re dedicated toward social justice.
Hawley was included on a list of 20 politicians, pastors and members of the religious right, including U.S. Senate candidates Blake Masters of Arizona and J.D. Vance of Ohio. It also included Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.
Hawley gave a speech at the National Conservatism conference in September where he talked about the Bible’s role in philosophically influencing America’s founding.
“Whatever your own beliefs, whatever your background, the revolution of the Bible is worth defending,” Hawley said. “It is worth preserving. It is the true source of the rights of man and the liberties we cherish. It has taught us what we know of dignity and equality. The Bible has made us who we are. And it is critical to our future.”
The group is attempting to push back against Christian nationalism — which is characterized by academics as a cultural framework that fuses Christianity with civic life. Those same academics have said Christian nationalists oppose compromise and sharing power which can be unhealthy for democracy.
There is an effort among some liberal Christians to “take back” the way Christianity is percieved in politics from the religious right, which has been a dominant force for decades.
Biden pardons pot offenses
President Joe Biden on Thursday announced he would pardon all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession. While relatively few people are sentenced on simple possession of marijuana alone — there were only 309 federal convictions for simple possession of any type of drug in the 2021 fiscal year, according to the U.S. sentencing commission — the pardon will still likely affect thousands of people.
The move to decriminalize marijuana possession comes at a time when more states are moving to legalize medical or recreational marijuana. In November, Missourians will get a chance to vote on whether they want recreational marijuana, just four years after the state approved medicinal marijuana and just two years after medicinal marijuana stores started operating.
Along with the pardons, Biden said he has asked his administration to look into “rescheduling” marijuana from a class 1 drug (it’s currently in the same class as heroin and LSD), which could allow more research to be done into the effects of the drug.
Happy Friday
Wait, you’re telling me you didn’t know it was fat bear week? Can’t go wrong with a scotch and soda. And here’s some Judy Garland.
Enjoy your weekend.
Looking for more?
Think this newsletter is missing something? Think I’m fabulous? Think I’m a moron? Send your reactions to ddesrochers@kcstar.com.
For more politics news, follow @Kacen, @KatieJ_Bernard, @drdesrochers and @jonshorman.
Support local journalists with a subscription.
Did someone forward this newsletter to you? You can sign-up here. If you’d prefer to unsubscribe from this newsletter, you can do so at any time using the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of this message.
