US Senator and GOP gubernatorial front-runner Sam Brownback has a brand new idea for the state of Kansas in the event that he is elected: an Office of the Repealer. Read that full story at the Lawrence Journal-World, and note how even in the headline of the story, it is pointed out that he can’t think of any specifics.
You see, there is lots of waste in the government, which needs to be dealt with. Senator Brownback is sure of this, but has no clue what that waste actually is (being out of Kansas politics for over a decade will do that). Thus, there must be a whole new government position to find and do away with waste. Yes, there would be a new government program to repeal hypothetical government programs.
Brownback is quoted as telling supporters that his new Bureau of Crushing Irony is necessary because Kansas must “look more like Texas and a lot less like California.”
That quote, and the entire idea of an Office of Repealer, are as shallow as anything one would expect as Brownback stumps for Stepping Stone to the White H… er… governor of Kansas, but they also bring to light a few of the ideas that the Republican Party has used for years to terrify voters.
First up, the haunting specter of government programs. Turn on your TV and check out any of the ads Todd Tiarht and Jerry Moran are running to attack each other (fittingly, to replace Sam Brownback in the Senate). How long will it take before one accuses the other of wanting more government? Especially with the rise of the libertarian-tinged Tea Party movement, it is trendy for Republican candidates to swear up and down that they despise the very existence of government, all the while tip-toeing around the fact that they wouldn’t have careers without it. Brownback can’t actually name anything he’d like his new office to do away with, but is banking on the very idea of something dedicated solely to getting rid of government services resonating with the more paranoid wings of the Kansas Republican Party.
Second, that delightful quip about looking more like Texas and less like California. In the lore of Republican rhetoric, “California” is code for “liberals”, “giant government”, and all the other scary things that midwesterners are supposed to revile. “Texas” evokes images of hope, in the form of small government, big trucks, George W. Bush, and all the other things that scream out “Go America!”
Mention to Sam Brownback that California has a Republican governor, or is the home state of Ronald Reagan, or passed a major piece of anti-gay policy via public referendum, and the most likely reaction is for him to shout “Look over there!” and duck behind a piece of furniture.
All snarkiness aside, when can Brownback, or any Republican candidate for that matter, forget about scare tactics and start campaigning on something positive? When will they stop reminding us that government is scary, and start looking for ways to make it work in a more productive manner? And when will the Kansas GOP stop evoking California, Texas, and the like, and start trying to find an identity for Kansas, beyond aspiring to be Texas-lite?
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