Endorse Kris Kobach or else: GOP House leader’s warning crosses the line
Kansas House Majority Leader Don Hineman had a warning recently for fellow Republicans with the audacity to publicly support anyone other than Kris Kobach for governor.
“Do not endorse, do not publicly support, do not join a ‘Republicans for ...’ group, and do not write a check,” Hineman said in an email. “Any of those actions are very inappropriate for a Republican officeholder. I fear there would be serious repercussions.”
It isn’t exactly clear what those repercussions might be. Perhaps Hineman was thinking of GOP state Sen. Barbara Bollier, who was tossed from her position on a committee after expressing support for Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly for governor.
It is far past time to abandon this foolishness. Punishing anyone for expressing a political view is ridiculous and counterproductive.
And — lest readers think we are picking on Republicans again — our view applies to any voter, in any party. If a “Democrats for Kobach” committee is out there, come on down.
Ideological partisan purity has never been a requirement of American electoral politics. There are pro-life Democrats and pro-choice Republicans. Some Republicans want a humane immigration policy, while some Democrats want tougher enforcement on the border. And so on.
Some Kansas Republicans support a reasonable tax and spending policy. Others believe in goofy supply-side tax cuts.
There was a time when party members more freely wandered into the other party’s ideological territory, of course. Today’s tribal politics makes that more difficult, but not impossible. And the concept remains intact: All are free to vote their conscience, not their party, at the polls.
Americans are also free to reveal their picks to their neighbors.
Republicans used to believe this. Remember Democrats for Reagan-Bush? Democrats for Nixon?
It works the other way, too. In 2014, Republicans for Kansas Values endorsed Democrat Paul Davis for governor (although the group mistakenly added a prominent Republican to its membership list.) In 2016, there was a Republicans for Clinton committee.
Endorsements are an essential part of democracy.
It’s hard not to see Kobach’s shadow in Hineman’s overreaction, in spirit if not in fact. Kobach once said Kansans who dislike the state’s politics could just leave.
“Americans can vote with their feet,” he said, “and choose a state that reflects their values and the way of life they’d like to enjoy.”
Kansas values include the freedom to think and to express one’s thoughts publicly without fear of reprisal or reproach. Republicans, Democrats and independents should remember that this fall.