TheChat: Here come the Libertarians

Long weekend coming. Nothing beats it.

▪ “We are seeing record interest in the party.” — national Libertarian Party political director Carla Howell.

Anyone surprised? With Trump and Hillary Clinton slated to be their party’s nominees, Libertarian membership has spiked 30 percent in recent months, Howell said. Media interest is up, too.

▪ “The Kansas budget has been structurally unbalanced every year since the 2012/2013 tax cuts went into effect, putting the state in a highly precarious financial situation. Budget actions in this legislative session did not address or correct that.” — former Kansas budget director Duane Goossen, who served under Democratic and Republican governors.

Goossen remains alarmed by the ongoing financial chaos in the state. Those 2012 tax cuts need to be modified, he says. “The state's grim financial prognosis will persist until the underlying problem gets fixed,” he said.

▪ “Unifying Democrats may actually be easier in 2016 than it was in 2008.” — Alan I. Abramowitz, senior columnist for Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

Democrats, Abramowitz writes, have two advantages in 2016 over 2008, the last time the party endured a contentious primary. One is Donald Trump’s unpopularity. The other is President Barack Obama, who can work to bring the party together.

▪ “The ‘fusion strategy’ — relying on or trying to elect the other party’s candidates — may be a short term stop-gap solution, but is long-term political suicide.” — Clay Barker, the Kansas GOP executive director, writing about the Kansas Democratic Party.

Democrats are working to discourage their members from defecting to the GOP in August to take part in the Republican primary. Many Democrats seek to elect moderate Republicans over conservatives. But Democrats, and Barker, are saying that could undermine the Democrats’ long-term prospects as they seek to rebuild.