As their ill-advised, ill-fated, self-immolating impeachment obsession has exposed _ they knew all along the president would wriggle off the hook, but went fishing anyway _ Democrats want to make 2020 about one thing and one thing only: Donald J. Trump. Not about the big-government balm they prescribe for every itch, and certainly not the historically strong economy they want to tear down and remake in their own overbearing image.
For now, anyway, that's just fine with candidates in the Kansas Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
The cardboard cutout of Trump out in the hallway at the Kansas GOP convention in Olathe might as well have been on stage Saturday with three of the candidates vying to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts. Except they would've torn it to pieces trying to claim him as their own.
The continued feverish support for Trump is a confounding concept for those on the left who appear for all the world as if they want to feel good rather than do well. But his support is no mystery at a gathering of his proud deplorables.
"I think results are the biggest reason," says University of Kansas student Ashley Sherrow. "Without a doubt, most people are more comfortable and confident under his administration than even past Republican administrations. Also, when the alternative facing America now is socialist ideas, and those pushing those ideas are obviously threatened by President Trump, it definitely creates a strong loyal backing behind him."
The problem vexing Kansas Republicans is that there's another huge issue in the 2020 election: electability.
That matter means plenty, certainly, in the state's 3rd Congressional District contest, in which three Republican women with varying positive attributes are vying to replace freshman Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids _ whose own surprise win over incumbent Republican Kevin Yoder in 2018 was one of the Democrats' top prizes in a sweepstakes-winning year for the party in Congress.
Challengers Amanda Adkins and Sara Hart Weir accorded themselves well in Friday's debate at the state convention, with Adkins polished and incumbent-like and Weir fiery and articulate. And while even a diehard supporter in the audience thought Adrienne Vallejo Foster underperformed _ she came off stiff and not at all the spitfire her widening reputation advertises _ the supporter promises a surprisingly strong grassroots campaign, which Foster herself assures will pull eyebrow-raising Democratic votes in her native Wyandotte County, including in the GOP primary.
But electability is without a doubt the single most important issue in the critical Senate race, in which Kansas Republicans are fighting to hold onto a seat they've held for nearly a century.
It's a particularly worrisome factor in the Senate race, and only got more so at Saturday's debate when perhaps the least electable candidate _ former Kansas secretary of state and failed 2018 gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach _ appeared to win the day.
Even among some predisposed to oppose him.
Kobach's performance "reminded many people why, despite his very disappointing campaign in the 2018 gubernatorial race, he still has a big base of conservative support in Kansas," says debate moderator and KCMO Talk Radio host Pete Mundo. "His debate skills were on full display."
"It would pain me to vote for him," Sherrow said after the debate, grousing about Kobach's 2018 decision to take on a Republican incumbent and mess up the general election. "But," she added, appearing to surprise herself, "at this point, I'm open to it."
That fact, and the possibility of another Kobach loss to a Democrat in the 2020 Senate general election, should strike fear in the heart of party faithful everywhere _ including the White House, which can't afford to lose any Senate seats.
Most GOP insiders regard Kobach's 2018 campaign as a disaster, and the main reason Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is putting her stamp on state government day by day. And Kobach's anti-illegal immigration efforts, while popular among conservatives, have yielded missteps and embarrassments politically and legally, making him a polarizing figure.
Yet, after his polished and personable debate performance Saturday, it's entirely possible that Kobach may be a bizarre hybrid of awful campaigner and sterling stump speaker.
With Kobach and U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall of the vast 1st Congressional District in western Kansas neck and neck in a recent poll, and Kobach in top form, the shadow of Kris Kobach looms large over the Kansas political plain.
Will Secretary of State Mike Pompeo enter the primary after all?
And just as importantly, will President Trump?
