Kansas Days with the Republican Party

What must a Republican candidate do if he/she hopes to be elected in the state of Kansas? He/she must attend the annual Kansas Days festivities in Topeka. Throughout my participation in the festivities of the weekend, this is something that I began to realize. Whichever candidate garners the support of those in attendance at this event is most likely the one who will have the best chance of winning the primary. Why? Because those in attendance are the leaders from across the state who will go back to their home towns and who will be a key influence behind the votes of numerous family members, friends and neighbors.

The Kansas Days weekend event is one in which I think every Kansan should take part – at least once. It is an incredible opportunity to express gratefulness to those serving on our behalf on the state and national level. It is an insightful view into the political structure and make-up of the state. It is a chance to meet fellow citizens from all corners of the state and from all walks of life. It is the perfect occasion to get up-to-date on the current issues facing those in leadership. It is a wonderful way to meet those running for various positions and find out what their position is on issues that are important to you.

Upon arrival in Topeka, Alisa and I made our way to the Capitol Plaza Hotel, where a number of receptions were being held. We visited several of these and spent time getting to know some of the other reception attendees while waiting in the receiving line for our turn to speak with the Congressmen or other elected officials (or hopefuls). We stopped to visit with one of the Gubernatorial candidates – Jim Barnett – and Susan Wagle, who’s running on his ticket in the Lieutenant Governor position. Senator Barnett wasn’t in the area, so I spoke instead with Senator Wagle and asked her about a number of issues – abortion, homosexual rights, God and government, etc. She enthusiastically espoused a positive and conservative view in each of these areas, but hesitated a little bit to speak expressly regarding Senator Barnett’s position when I pressed her for more specific answers to a couple of questions. It became clear to me throughout the weekend that this ticket had a lot of support amongst those present. A number of people whom I respect spoke very favorably of both Senators.

Following the receptions, we changed into the appropriate attire (to the extent our wardrobes allowed!) and joined a couple hundred others at the Western-themed KRA Gala.


We ate our first course – a salad...


…while enjoying the music provided by Sons of the Konza Prairie.


Part of the program included the presentation of several awards. The KRA Courageous Conservative Award was presented to the courageous men and women of our State Board of Education who have admirably endured all kinds of scorn and ridicule for the science standards they adopted last year.


The emcee for the Gala was this cowboy (a.k.a. David Thorne). He graciously posed for this shot, although the interesting facial expression betrays the fact that his recent comment that perhaps the chaps were a little too tight may be true after all… ;-)


We were pleased to have my State Representative Don Myers and his wife, Mary (also a former piano student of mine!), join us at our table for dinner. The meal was delicious and we enjoyed conversing together until the speakers began their presentations.

Kris Kobach, a Constitutional Law Professor, shared his review of the Alito hearings and emphasized how the term “judicial activism” is now being effectively twisted by the liberals to mean the exact opposite of what it really means. He identified the three big issues that will come before the US Supreme Court this year as:
1. the sustaining of the partial birth abortion ban
2. the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade
3. issues pertaining to the “establishment clause”

Finally, he touched on the need to change the way that our state Supreme Court Justices are appointed. Currently, a select group of lawyers serving on the Judicial Selection Commission submit names to the Governor for appointment. He noted that this appointment process has led to not only a liberal activist court, but also to a mediocre one. This is due to the absence of any accountability for the appointments that are made. Professor Kobach advocated that we should implement a federal-type or an election-based system whereby those we have elected to represent us will be accountable to us for the court appointments that they recommend and elect.

Following Professor Kobach, we heard from the always-passionate Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline. Attorney General Kline spoke emphatically of the need for perseverance. In the face of such overwhelming tasks as we face, he reminded us that we know the outcome, because we know the Author of Truth and Justice – the One who has already won the victory. Toward the close of his speech, he proclaimed, “We shall enshrine righteousness in our laws and courts.” Amen.

A party hosted by the Kansas Young Republicans gave us an opportunity to meet other young people from across the state. I especially enjoyed visiting for quite some time with a girl who worked for Ken Canfield at his National Center for Fathering and is now part of his campaign staff. I was very impressed by her heart for the Lord and her vision for making a difference in the lives of others. She was also able to share more about the Canfields and their work in Kansas and elsewhere.




The following morning began early with the Kansans for Life breakfast. This was my favorite event last year and I enjoyed it again immensely this year. We heard heartfelt messages from Senator Pat Roberts, Senator Sam Brownback, Representative Jim Ryun and his wife Ann, Representative Todd Tiahrt and Attorney General Phill Kline. It is such a blessing to have such a team serving on our behalf in Washington D.C. (and Kline in Topeka). While I may not agree with all of their positions on various issues, I am so grateful for their Godly leadership and their commitment to standing up for what is right in such a corrupt political climate.


After the breakfast we attended a Young Republicans meeting and then our District meeting. The District meeting was primarily a time for currently serving officials to address their constituents or for those running for office to present their message to the people of the District. Robin Jennison, another Gubernatorial candidate, shared with us what he calls his “simple message” – “We can do it.” (Doesn’t that sound like a great plan?) He offered some criticism of Governor Sebelius and her education policies, but didn’t present any sort of plan of his own. I didn’t get a chance to meet Mr. Jennison personally, but from what I did observe, I was not overly impressed.

Jim Barnett and Susan Wagle spoke for a few minutes and centered their comments on the Kansas economy. They said that they met with the KU economic development researchers and key legislators to come up with a plan. Some of their points were:
• state needs to tighten belts and live within its means by “freezing” the budget
• target tax cuts – reduce income tax, eliminate estate tax
• increase dependent exemptions by $500
• offer an investment tax credit of 10%

Senator Barnett committed to providing leadership and working hard to win the election. I was more favorably impressed with the vision of this team than with Robin Jennison, but I have some other concerns that prevent me from offering whole-hearted support at this point.

Ken Canfield was the final Gubernatorial candidate to share and, though he has no experience in state politics, he explained a little about his work in founding the National Center for Fathering and his travels throughout the state to meet with Kansas citizens. I had a chance to meet Dr. Canfield a little later in the day and ask him some questions. I began by questioning his position on abortion. (When I ask these questions, I try not to make it obvious what my position is so that the candidate doesn’t feel compelled to give a certain answer only to satisfy me with what they presume I want to hear.) He replied that he is pro-life, but when I pressed him further, he was hesitant to commit to being 100% pro-life. He is in favor of the marriage amendment. Dr. Canfield acknowledged that without any previous political experience, he doesn’t have any sort of voting record to indicate what his positions are, so he plans to make available later this year complete issue statements. I look forward to reading these once they become available.

(If you don’t know how the political structure of the Republican Party is set up in the state – I was completely clueless until I attended Kansas Days last year and learned more about this – here’s a brief overview of what I understand the structure to be – please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong:
• One Precinct Committeeman and one Precinct Committeewoman are elected by the people of their precinct to represent them at the County level.
• At each County Reorganizational Meeting, all the Committeemen and Committeewomen elect the County leadership that will represent them at the District level.
• At each District (the four Congressional Districts in Kansas) Reorganizational Meeting, the County representatives elect the Delegates that will represent them at the State level.
• At the State Reorganizational Meeting, the District Delegates elect the State Leadership/Executive Board.
The elections were held last year, so the State Committee meeting held this weekend was just a business meeting. This should be helpful for understanding my brief commentary on the State Committee meeting below.)


Our final planned event was the State Committee Meeting. Alisa is an Alternate Delegate, so there was a chance that she might be called to serve on the Committee if a Delegate was unable to attend. This ended up not being the case, so we sat as observers of the proceedings, which were rather entertaining at times. There were a number of business items presented, most having to do with the newly drafted party platform and adoption of the State Party Constitution and By-laws. One notable amendment to the By-laws that was presented was an increase in the number of Delegates serving on the State Committee from 27 to 98 representing each District. There was considerable discussion and amending of the amendment before the vote took place. When all was said and done, the decision was made to increase the number to 37 Delegates representing each District on the State Committee.

An unforeseen (and rather humorous) predicament was experienced upon the tallying of the next vote. A vote to adopt a party platform every two years was voted in favor of by a majority of those present. However, due to the newly adopted previous amendment increasing the number of Delegates (which took effect immediately) the number of votes required to reach a majority status was increased substantially. Thus, by these numbers, the motion failed. Due to some confusion as a result of this, Party Chairman Tim Shallenburger issued a short halt to the proceedings to recount the total number of voting persons present. He encouraged those in favor of the motion to make use of the extra minutes to do some intense lobbying. :-) Apparently his words were not wasted, as the final count, with all recent number changes duly noted, found in favor of this party platform amendment.

We stayed a while longer to attend a couple more receptions and ended up providing some last minute assistance in organizing the line of Distinguished Guests for the formal Kansas Days Gala Saturday evening. The drive home provided time to discuss our thoughts and observations from the weekend on both a philosophical and practical level. Of particular prominence in my mind right now is the question of how to rightfully fulfill my Biblical responsibilities in the support of specific candidates. I perceived throughout the weekend an incredible sense of party loyalty. Perhaps due to the divisions within the Republican Party right now, the urging to remain loyal to the party was more adamant than usual. Several times, the plea was issued that, once the primary is over, all Republicans come together in support of whichever candidate wins so that we have some chance of getting Governor Sebelius out of office. This is, of course, the best course of action if the ultimate goal is to get a Republican in office. But is that, indeed, the ultimate goal? A cursory review of recent Kansas history will quickly reveal that some of our recent Republican Governors were little improvement over what we’ve experienced with Governor Sebelius.

This is an issue that I need to continue to study and think and pray through. I must acknowledge, though, my gratitude toward those who have labored tirelessly for years to bring about reform in the State Republican Party. I don’t think we can fully know how much their dedicated efforts have impacted all of us.

The elections will be upon us soon. God has given us the incredible privilege here in America, through the guidance of our Founding Fathers many years ago, to elect our own officials. Let us take our responsibility seriously to elect those who fear God and will rule wisely in their appropriate areas of jurisdiction.