Even in self-quarantine, Rep. Sharice Davids should’ve heard GOP opponents’ footsteps
Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids has just left a self-isolation she announced March 19 after possible coronavirus exposure in Congress.
That had to be same-old, same-old for Davids, though, according to one of her three Republican campaign rivals in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District who says the Democratic congresswoman has always been in a form of self-imposed quarantine.
“Sharice really hasn’t had to change her approach to campaigning at all,” Sara Hart Weir wryly noted. “Her approach this entire time since taking office has really been focused on kind of taking arm’s-length engagements under the watchful eye of her handlers. She just hides and waits until Nancy Pelosi tells her what to do and how to vote.”
Pointed, but not altogether unfair commentary. Davids is regarded even among the like-minded as far too cautious and too much of a closed book. Republicans even wonder if she’ll offer herself up for debates come the general election campaign.
Regardless, even in isolation Davids should have been hearing footsteps — three pairs of them — because Weir and fellow GOP congressional candidates Amanda Adkins and Adrienne Vallejo Foster aren’t being slowed by the coronavirus. In fact, in many ways, they’ve ramped up their campaigns as COVID-19 has shut down much of society.
“Actually, we are super busy, interestingly enough,” Adkins says.
“I’ve actually really grown my support,” says Foster, who claims to be on the phone to district constituents four hours a day, and who’s been known to drop off groceries to one or two shut-ins. “It hasn’t stopped my campaign. In fact, it actually has made my campaign better.”
All three, like Davids, have gone crazy digital, among other things posting links to and tips for individuals and businesses to access government resources. Foster, a former Small Business Administration appointee, is in virtual meetings with women-owned and other businesses to show them the SBA ropes.
Meanwhile, Adkins, an executive on leave from health care and IT company Cerner Corporation, has posted her thinking on the federal coronavirus response — slow start, quick progress, much more to do — and has been in very wonky discussions with area business owners and health care leaders as the crisis has unfolded.
Davids, says Adkins, “may be talking with business leaders and people in health care. But I’ve worked in business and health care for 15 years. So, the people that I’m calling are people I have known and worked with. They’re deep relationships, they’re trusted. We’re having fairly in-depth conversations about what’s working versus what’s not.
“So the biggest difference between the two of us, regardless of what her activity is, is that my depth of relationships is, I’m sure, stronger and the conversations that I have are a lot more detailed in terms of how we solve the problems.”
I asked all three about President Donald Trump’s perceived handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which may have a bearing on the Republican nominee’s fate in November.
Adkins’ answer — broken down into the three areas of detection, risk mitigation and medical equipment supplies — is nuanced: While lauding the president for making a lot of progress in the past week or so, Adkins faulted the feds for being slow on testing and urged a firmer federal hand in supply chain management.
Foster is less equivocal. While calling Trump’s open-up-by-Easter wish not very realistic, she otherwise is bullish on his performance. “I think the president’s doing very well. I just remember being the mayor (of Roeland Park) during the recession. No one’s perfect when they’re dealing with a crisis. Always, leaders look at it afterward and say, ‘Could I have done something differently? Could I have done something better?’ I think he’s doing the best that he can do. And I think that we see that in the polls right now. He is polling very, very well.”
Weir deftly turns the question back onto Davids’ performance, tying her fate to that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“I’m running against Sharice Davids,” she said. “When she had her turn to actually do something, what has she done the last week or so? She’s backed up Nancy Pelosi and delayed relief to America. She needs to be evaluated for her performance, and her approach to being Nancy Pelosi’s echo chamber.”
Leave no doubt. These three women are coming for Kansas’ 3rd Congressional seat. And they’re not letting anything slow them down.
This story was originally published March 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
