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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Independent Orman and a Moderate Republican back-lash


The entire nation is watching Kansas to see if an independent, Greg Orman, can unseat longtime Republican Senator Pat Roberts. Kansas is a deeply red state and has been for some time now. This could also affect the upcoming national elections.
As The Wichita Eagle newspaper has been reporting, ‘moderate Republicans are rising up’—after “some conservative Republicans have actively encouraged moderate Republicans to leave the GOP, mocking them as RINOs (Republican in name only).
Now moderates are joining Democrats in what appears to be a backlash against huge gains in the last few years by far-far right-wing Republicans of the Tea Party mold. In recent years moderate Republican incumbents have been beaten in primaries buy new further right-wing candidates. One such example is Jean Schodorf, a former Republican Kansas Senator, representing the 25th District from 2001 to 2013. She was beaten in the 2012 Republican Primary. Schodorf is now running as a Democrat against Kris Kobach for secretary of state. Polls show this as a close race.
At first Republicans blew off any concern that Orman could beat Roberts in a three way contest with Democrat Chad Taylor. But Taylor has withdrawn, even though Kobach has refused to allow his name to be taken off the ballet. Now Roberts, who didn’t do so well in the primary, is fighting for his political future.
Roberts is not alone. Governor Sam Brownback is behind the polls in his re-election campaign, against Democrat Paul Davis. While the state has been dominated for the last 30 years by the Republican Party, the consistent lunge to the right is not as popular. Businesses, including the Koch Brothers have used the Kansas State Chamber of Commerce to endorse the more radical right-wing candidates. Schodorf’s opponent, Michael O'Donnell, was endorsed by the Chamber, during the 2012 primary.
This race may have national implications. According to the Huffington Post;
The recent upheaval in the Kansas Senate race has thrown a small wrench into political observers' efforts to forecast which party will take majority control of the upper chamber of Congress next year.
This election cycle in Kansas shows what can happen when a small group of greedy and abusive far-far right-wing political insiders decide to take over a party and then push out those who won’t go along. The backlash has begun.

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