The Greening of a Hard Red State

The Greening of a Hard Red State

By: Burdett Loomis
February 13, 2007

Sen. Sam Brownback, the Christian Right's great hope in 2008, in many ways reflects the Kansas Republican stereotype, including fierce opposition to abortion and more than a bit of skepticism toward evolution. Today, however, Brownback's agenda may well be more popular outside his home state than in it.

Ten years ago, Kansas could only be considered the reddest of red states. Every state officeholder save one was a Republican, as were its four U.S. House members. Republicans held overwhelming majorities in the state legislature, they outnumbered Democrats in the electorate by 2 to 1, and native son Bob Dole had just run as the GOP candidate for president.

<skip>

Even more important, the Kansas Republican Party had begun to implode. Social conservatives, many with direct ties to the anti-abortion movement, had taken over the party in 1994, and by 1996 even Dole was not at home within the party's ranks. Social conservatives came to dominate primary elections for governor, attorney general, the state school board and many state legislative seats. More and more traditional Republicans of the Dole stripe found themselves on the outside of a party dominated by the Religious Right politics that author Thomas Frank detailed in "What's the Matter With Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America."

<skip>

The early indications in 2006 were clear and positive: Gov. Sebelius and Rep. Moore won easily. Equally important, Sebelius succeeded in persuading two high-profile, moderate Republicans to change parties and run for statewide office, including her choice for lieutenant governor, former state Republican Party chairman Mark Parkinson. And Paul Morrison, the highly respected, veteran district attorney in populous and wealthy Johnson County (suburban Kansas City), switched parties to oppose Attorney General Phill Kline, who had used his position to pursue a controversial and aggressive anti-abortion, socially conservative agenda. Morrison raised a record $2.3 million for his successful race.

more . . .
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0207/2752.html

Burdett Loomis is a professor of political science at the University of Kansas and has written extensively on Kansas politics for more than 25 years.

The use of "Red" and "Blue" is anachronistic.

These terms were given their current meanings only after the 2000 presidential election, I believe with the intent to divide-and-conquer. America was "polarized," and those who pretended to be most upset about it (think David Brooks) actually tried to solidify it by implying it was based on identity, or some other form of cultural or geographic essentialism, which in turn trumps the common economic interests of the majorities in both "Red" and "Blue" states. The ploy is meant to help keep "Red" in the Republican column.

In fact, until 2000 the colors used to represent the parties on the big TV maps were switched with each election cycle. I don't remember 1996, but in 1980 Reagan was definitely given blue, while Carter had (a few small patches of) red. Only in 2004 did they decide to stick to the red/blue assignments of 2000 - thus endorsing this particular psychological manipulation.

There's no mention of 'green' in the piece at all. Or any environmental politics. It's just a piece about some Democratic wins, which leaves Kansas, as the piece says, "reddish purple", if you keep the colour metaphor. Whoever chose the title must have been looking at another article - or they're colourblind.