Political ads are now in full swing. Here in Kansas, the politicians with all the money are conservative and they all say the exact same thing. “I’ll fight for conservative values.” “I’m a conservative outsider,” “I never voted for a tax increase,” “I’m pro-life.”
Out political system is winner takes all. What would help our elections would be some kind of proportional representation. That kind of system is found mostly in Europe and it allows minority parties and viewpoints to have at least some representation in the government.
Kansas is much like the rest of the country. Each election has one and only one winner and that person must win the majority to hold office. There is no second place, no consolation prize or anything from those who disagree with the direction of the ruling party, which in Kansas is ALLWAYS REPUBLICAN. The first district is so solidly Republican that the Democratic Party has literally pulled out of that part of the state. The Libertarian Party is the only real competition to the Republicans in that part of Kansas.
The Democratic Party has a hard time raising money in Kansas so we are bombarded with the same message and the same promises. We also have a lot of pure stupidity of campaign claims. One day we were bombarded with Wink Hartman ads where Hartman holds a certificate he said was a pledge not to indulge in dirty campaign tactics. He pledged to stick to the issues and not sling mud at his opponents. Now he has been running an ad all day blasting his opponent, Mike Pompeo claiming he sent Kansas jobs to Mexico and implying he is a Washington insider. Do any of the voters remember the pledge? Even if they do, who are they going to vote for since every campaign ad is saying the same thing? Can any of these people be trusted?
Kansas is a lot like living in a one party state. Election campaigns are becoming more meaningless every day.
Kansas.........
...It's just like a one-party-state.
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