Professor Edward Flentje: "A Referendum on Brownback" @ Winfield Daily Courier

[Excerpt]    Reporters from Reuters, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal descended on Kansas in the last few weeks to cover a political contest they view to be of national significance, that is, a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party in the reddest of red states.

Never in state history has a sitting Kansas governor led a public campaign to oust legislators of his own party. In doing so, Gov. Sam Brownback is making the Republican primary on Aug. 7 a referendum on his governorship.

Brownback is asking Republican primary voters in a number of legislative races across the state to side with a slate of candidates composed by him and his allies against incumbent legislators. These targeted legislators view themselves as “traditional” Republicans in the lineage of Kansas icons such as Alf Landon, Dwight Eisenhower and Bob Dole, and former Republican governors; and they believe government has a more affirmative role in assuring a high quality of life for Kansans.

An understanding of what is at stake in the election requires a look at those who have energized Brownback’s rise to power and what they have in store for Kansas.


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