Kris Kobach Has Full Support Of Democrats Who Can’t Wait To See Him Lose Kansas Senate Race
Kris Kobach in Kansas is a problem for Republicans. Nobody likes the guy. He's already lost the governor's race in 2018 by five points to a Democrat in Kansas, and now he's running for Senate in a campaign he kicked off by misspelling his own name. The Republican establishment is afraid he'll win the primary and go on to lose the general against state Senator Barbara Bollier.
The GOP's internal polling is dire: Donald Trump is only narrowly leading Joe Biden in a state where he beat Hillary Clinton by 20 points. Worse, 30 percent of primary voters said they would support Bollier over Kobach because even they know Kobach's a racist creep. Kobach is radioactive among moderate Republicans in the Kansas City suburbs — the Lincoln Project-friendly demo who Trump and his stooges have alienated almost completely.
Mitch McConnell, who'd like to remain Senate majority leader, wants to block Kobach. Republican Rep. Roger Marshall is the establishment's favored candidate. He's terrible but he doesn't make a big scene about it like Kobach. Marshall has consistently voted in line with Trump, but the president won't endorse him. He apparently only intervenes in primaries when his pettiness sufficiently motivates him.
This weekend, during a trip on Air Force One, Texas Senator Ted Cruz just happened to let drop that Marshall had supported John Kasich in the 2016 primary. (So, he was the one!) Now Trump definitely isn't going to support the superior candidate, because the president's a small, pathetic man.
Plumbing magnate Bob Hamilton is also in the primary race and describes himself in ads as a "crazy, Trump-supporting, American-loving, flag-waving conservative." You'll notice that his support for Trump comes before his love of America, which is how the president likes it.
Kobach told Lou Dobbs recently that McConnell and the GOP establishment are “interfering" with the race by supporting Marshall with money and endorsements. He doesn't seem to understand how Senate races work. It's also unclear how he thinks he can win statewide on a “RINOs Suck" platform.
KOBACH: Mitch McConnell has come in to interfere in the race and lift up the RINO opponent that I have to propel him across the finish line ahead of me. We've seen this so many times where McConnell interferes whenever a conservative is leading in the polls. I think he should let Kansas Republicans decide for themselves and then put that money behind the winner instead of attacking a conservative. He's hurting the Republican cause, not just in Kansas but nationally.
McConnell isn't a RINO. His primary ideology is “winning," so if he's trying to block Kobach, it's because he knows he's a loser.
Last week, Kobach argued that McConnell just wants a “yes man," which is technically true, but Kobach is running as Trump's “yes man," so his moral foundation is shaky here.
KOBACH: This isn't the first time [McConnell and the establishment] have tried to take out a conservative. Remember back in 2014, Chris McDaniel was going up against Thad Cochran in Mississippi. They came in. They dumped a ton of bricks on McDaniel, took him out.
Horrors! The Senate majority leader wanted to protect a longtime incumbent from a primary challenge.
KOBACH: Kelli Ward was about to beat John McCain ... Mitch McConnell comes in. They bring in the bombers and they drop a ton of bombs on Kelli Ward to take her out.
Kelli Ward is a flake who probably would've lost the general election. Stop making us defend Moscow Mitch.
Kobach is almost rational, compared to local crackpot Newt Gingrich, who wrote an op-ed for Newsweek where he accused Chuck Schumer of trying to “steal" a Senate seat:
While Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) is retiring after four terms, this would normally be a safe Republican seat.
Then the murders began. Or rather Democrats contested the seat as if this is a representative democracy.
The Democrats are running State Sen. Barbara Bollier, a Republican-turned-Democrat. She would normally be expected to run a good race, get 45 percent or less and stay in Kansas.
Fair enough, Mr. Speaker, but what if Democrats don't cosplay the Washington Generals this time out?
However, Schumer and the Washington Democrats have come up with a clever scheme to change history, break the Republicans' biggest winning streak and steal the Kansas seat to help take over a majority in the U.S. Senate.
[ ... ]
The Democrats have invented Sunflower State PAC, which has already spent $2.5 million propping up Kobach and attacking Congressman Roger Marshall. The PAC will spend another $2.2 million against Marshall before the August 4 primary.
Schumer isn't “stealing" a Senate seat. This isn't like what the Supreme Court did to Al Gore or what McConnell did to Merrick Garland. He's just trying to win. We're as surprised as everyone else, but he's playing by the same rules as Republicans. They should start getting used to that.
Send some cash to Barbara Bollier here.
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Stephen Robinson is a writer and social kibbitzer based in Portland, Oregon. He writes make believe for Cafe Nordo, an immersive theatre space in Seattle. Once, he wrote a novel called “Mahogany Slade,” which you should read or at least buy. He's also on the board of the Portland Playhouse theatre. His son describes him as a “play typer guy."
