In Kansas Primaries, Conservatives Attack Fellow Republicans

But after publicly criticizing elements of Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax plan this year, Mr. Kelsey found himself among a cluster of conservative Republican state senators that a more conservative coalition here is working to defeat in Tuesday’s primary elections.

Kansas politics have been tilting more to the right for at least the last two decades. And now that shift is prompting a bitter clash within the state’s Republican Party. Conservatives are feverishly working to win the Senate and drive out the last remnants of what they see as moderate Republicanism in a state with a deep-rooted history of centrist Republicans in the mold of Bob Dole, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Nancy Kassebaum.

The divisive primary campaign reflects the ambivalence gripping Republicans across the country, yet the situation here is more complicated than the typical conservative-versus-establishment disputes.

What sets the battle in Kansas apart is the distance between the factions. Conservative and moderate Republicans essentially operate as separate parties, and so far, no one — including Mr. Brownback — has stepped forward to try to bridge that gap in the popular tradition of moderation. Instead, each side claims to represent the soul of the party.

“We don’t even know what it means to be a Republican in the state of Kansas,” said Casey W. Moore, a conservative Senate candidate from the Topeka area.

Nationally, conservatives have been defining the party in their image. Last week, they scored a big victory in Texas when a Tea Party favorite defeated Gov. Rick Perry’s favored candidate in the primary for an open United States Senate seat. That outcome followed conservative victories this year over established Republicans in Senate primary races in Indiana and Nebraska.

Kansas conservatives are optimistic that they can do the same on the state level and upend long-held assumptions that the people of their state prefer moderate lawmakers.

Two years ago, conservative Republicans here captured a majority in the Kansas House of Representatives — around 70 of 125 seats — for the first time in about four decades, and, for the first time in at least half a century, Kansans elected a conservative governor, Mr. Brownback. Conservatives need to pick up three or four seats to win control of the 40-member Senate, where 14 moderate Republicans and 8 Democrats often vote together to maintain a coalition that gives them a majority.

The move toward a more conservative Kansas began about 25 years ago, when a small group of fiscally conservative legislators, feeling marginalized by the Republican leadership, began promoting an agenda that emphasized free markets, tax cuts and reducing government spending. They teamed with grass-roots social conservatives and, in 1994, gained a significant number of seats in the Kansas House and ousted its moderate speaker.

Conservatives continued to gain seats in the Legislature, and the rest of the country began to take notice of their brand of politics. “What’s The Matter With Kansas?,” Thomas Frank’s 2004 book, which was made into a film, documented that rise.

Now that conservatives are closer than ever to full control of the state’s government, fighting between the two factions of the Republican Party has become more overt, and nastier.

“The conservatives, they hate the moderate Republicans,” said Burdett A. Loomis, a political science professor at the University of Kansas. “They think they really have conspired with Democrats and have prevented conservative forces from their rightful place of dominating the government.”

Mr. Brownback is openly challenging the moderate members of his party. Interest groups like the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads attacking moderates and rallying support for conservatives.

Moderates have gotten a lift from Bill Graves, the former two-term Republican governor who has held fund-raisers for the candidates he supports. Mr. Graves, who was in office from 1995 to 2003, is familiar with intraparty scuffling: the conservative state party chairman resigned to challenge him in 1998, when he successfully ran for re-election. Moderate candidates have also benefited from hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from labor and teachers’ unions.

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Letters: Conservatives value control over compromise

How funny to listen to a conservative such as commentary writer Jonah Goldberg defend conservatives' willingness to compromise ("Column: 'Compromise' is not a dirty word").

By J. Scott Applewhite,, AP

Republican leaders: Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, right, and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

By J. Scott Applewhite,, AP

Republican leaders: Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, right, and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

After Barack Obama was elected president, I remember Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., saying his priority would be to work on getting Obama out of office. And I have seen many federal legislators on the right do nothing but dis just about every single thing the president has tried to do in his first term.

Clearly, conservatives don't care about our country. They just want to take over.

Lastly, I ask Goldberg, what about George W. Bush? Conservatives have buried the former president because they are hoping the voters will forget what he did to us during his two terms.

Patricia Alexander; Marietta, Ga.

Letters to the editor

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GOP right to push debt solutions

Jonah Goldberg's Forum piece on compromise was right on! I could not agree more with his point that Republicans must hold the line against the Democrats to stave off our soaring debt. They cannot condone or risk higher taxation for fear that money, too, will be squandered.

Perhaps there used to be more compromise in Congress, particularly during the Clinton administration, when there was more wiggle room on our debt levels. Today, the situation is too dire to be pushed any further. What is the debt solution offered by President Obama, Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi?

This election is not about race (I would vote for Condoleezza Rice in a heartbeat) or religion. It is about economic policy and our inability to meet our debt obligations.

The Republican Party is the party of personal responsibility and believes in offering everyone the opportunity to succeed, but not giving handouts.

David Dale; Dover, Fla.

Obstructionist goals from start

How can Jonah Goldberg ask us to consider that the Democrats and, more precisely, President Obama are no more interested in compromise than Republicans?

As I recall, almost from the moment Obama was elected, the Republicans made it clear their agenda and priority would be to see to it that this president is limited to one term.

Given this, how can anyone with an ounce of political awareness really believe today's Republicans want anything other than to present obstacles to any deal that might give the impression that this president is an effective leader?

Richard Seidel; Chicago

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Conservatives: Time to rally around a not-Romney (AP)

WASHINGTON – Prominent conservative leaders want their rank and file to quickly get behind a single presidential candidate, fearful that persistent splits will help Mitt Romney win the Republican nomination.

The former Massachusetts governor narrowly won the Iowa caucuses when conservative voters divided their support among several challengers, and the worry is that the same thing will happen in South Carolina, Florida and beyond if Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry all stay in the race.

"Conservatives are still divided among a number of different candidates, but the field is winnowing," said former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer. And, he said: "I certainly think that Sen. Santorum is in a good position to inherit a lot of that support."

In the afterglow of Santorum's unexpectedly narrow loss to Romney in Iowa, leaders on the right who have been scarcely engaged in the rollicking Republican contest began buzzing about the prospect of endorsing the former Pennsylvania senator with the solid conservative credentials — or someone else such as Gingrich who has deep conservative roots.

In New Hampshire, Santorum picked up the support of state Sen. James Luther — he was one of two GOP senators still up for grabs — and Shannon McGinley, the chair of conservative think tank Cornerstone. Santorum's campaign also reported taking in $2 million in the two days since the Iowa vote.

To discuss how to proceed, some of those leaders have set up meetings from Washington to Texas before the Jan. 21 South Carolina primary. That vote could prove pivotal, given that the Republicans who have won the state for decades have eventually become the party's nominees.

"There is movement, even members of Congress who are weighing this now who are looking to make a move," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who said he's spoken with more than eight leaders with conservative constituencies, including lawmakers. He declined to name them but added: "I do think you'll see growing momentum toward Rick Santorum."

Indeed, interviews with a number of leaders, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid, indicated that Santorum was emerging as the preferred alternative to Romney, though a few still are watching Gingrich. Not one mentioned Perry, who announced he would reassess his campaign in light of a fifth-place showing in Iowa only to say a day later he would press on in South Carolina.

Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman who is a favorite of evangelicals and the tea party, took the opposite route, abandoning her bid after coming in last in Iowa. That's left her backers up for grabs and looking for someone to rally behind.

It's unlikely to be Romney.

Many conservatives have long viewed him skeptically. These voters complain that he's reversed himself on a series of social issues. They also don't like his record of support for government health care and exceptions to abortion restrictions. And, with conservatives making up the base of the party, the skepticism has kept his support under 25 percent in most national surveys and in some early primary states despite his front-runner status, strong organization and big bank account.

"You'll eventually come down to one conservative and Gov. Romney," Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, predicted Thursday in New Hampshire. "And he'll continue to get 25 percent. By definition at some point in that game somebody is going to start getting a lot more votes than Gov. Romney."

The hand-wringing on the right over Romney as the nominee has produced a deeply unsettled nomination fight.

Conservative voters have spent much of the year flitting from Bachmann to Perry to Gingrich in search of someone to back.

In Iowa, they finally ended up rallying behind Santorum, making him the latest candidate to emerge as the more conservative alternative to Romney.

"We're the folks that people are getting excited about," Santorum said after an appearance Thursday in Manchester.

His near victory in Iowa — Romney by eight votes — is prompting new calls to reach a consensus.

"It's time for the conservatives to get off the sidelines and get into the arena, and make our choice known," said Richard Viguerie, a longtime GOP fundraiser, who after much searching said he has picked a candidate. "There was Rick Santorum, in plain sight, all along."

And the president of the political arm of Catholic Vote — Brian Burch — is suggesting that supporters take a second look at Santorum, a Catholic.

"Until the last two weeks, it wasn't clear whether Santorum would get the traction he needed to compete," Burch wrote to backers after Santorum's Iowa finish, saying: "He put these doubts firmly to rest."

Gingrich also is a Catholic, Romney a Mormon.

Just days before a pair of weekend debates and the New Hampshire primary, Santorum has significant vulnerabilities including some that irk conservatives: He's made some provocative remarks about gay marriage and abortion that have put conservative leaders in awkward spots. And during 18 years in Congress, he voted for federal budgets that included funding for Planned Parenthood, and for George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind education law.

Some seem willing to look past those, saying that Santorum could be appealing to Midwesterners, Catholics and swing voters.

They see an ardent family man of faith with a consistent record on abortion, gun control and other legal issues. He's as able a debater as Romney, they say, and probably would be a more passionate advocate for conservative values against Obama.

As for past remarks likening abortion to slavery and gay marriage to polygamy and the coupling of men and dogs?

"It's a price worth paying" for a conservative presidential candidate, said Curt Levey of Judicial Watch, who says Santorum helped pave the way for the confirmations of conservative Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito. Levey's group hasn't endorsed a candidate, but he offers this comparison of Santorum and Romney: "Romney's strength is also his weakness. He never says anything controversial."

For tea party activists, Santorum's appeal lies in his populist, working-class persona.

"They know he's a hard worker, and they like that," said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots. "But they are concerned because in his past record, he spent more (federal) money than what needs to happen right now."

Many conservative leaders will have a chance to discuss how to proceed face-to-face next week at a meeting in Texas hosted by Bauer, among others. He said the meeting was planned weeks ago and emphasized that the goal is not to promote Santorum.

He added: "Nor is it a stop-Romney meeting."

Even so, that may be the impact.

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Associated Press writers Philip Elliott in Manchester, N.H., and Shannon McCaffrey in Plymouth, N.H., contributed to this report.

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Paul Ryan to endorse in GOP primaries, help replace ‘timid’ congressmen with ‘bold conservatives’ with ‘bold conservatives’ (Daily Caller)

Republicans seek Iowa social conservatives' nod (AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa – Six Republican presidential candidates dove deep into how their religious faith influences their public life, during a free-flowing forum before a large, influential audience of social conservatives in early-voting Iowa on Saturday.

At an event sponsored by an Iowa Christian group, the candidates tried at times to gain a political edge with potent Iowa conservatives. But some of the discussion turned uncharacteristically personal, with the would-be presidents tearfully revealing formative chapters that shaped their faith.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose recent rise has renewed scrutiny of his two divorces, admitted taking the advice of a recovering alcoholic to soothe the demons he had treated for years with his own national ambition.

"I wasn't drinking but I had precisely the symptoms of someone who was collapsing under this weight," Gingrich said. "And I found myself, this emerging national figure ... trying to understand where I had failed, why I was empty and why I had to turn to God."

Businessman Herman Cain, accused of sexually harassing four subordinates more than a decade ago, didn't address the accusations which he has denied vigorously. But he acknowledged not being home enough during his career's meteoric rise to the top of a national restaurant chain, and he credited his marriage with helping him after being diagnosed with cancer in 2006.

"Before my wife and I were about to head to the care, I said, `I can do this,'" Cain recalled. "She said, `We can do this.'"

The event occurred while many evangelical conservatives, a powerful force in Iowa's caucuses, still look for a more conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor has not courted this segment of the voting bloc aggressively in his second bid for the GOP nomination.

The format was a sharp departure from the 10 GOP debates that have already been held in the 2012 campaign. Instead of the rapid questions and timed answers of the televised debates, Saturday's forum was held around a large dining table on a stage with fall-themed decorations, aimed at resembling a family Thanksgiving dinner scene. Pollster Frank Luntz moderated the two-hour event, which often flowed conversationally.

Notably absent was Romney, a leader in most national and Iowa polls this year but who has not campaigned vigorously for the social conservative vote.

Also missing was former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who is focusing his early-state campaign on New Hampshire, where his moderate positions on gay rights are not as glaring a liability.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who has campaigned aggressively for the support of evangelical conservatives in Iowa, tearfully confessed to have resisted loving his severely disabled daughter.

"I had decided that the best thing I could do was to treat her differently and not love her the way I did because it wouldn't hurt as much if I'd lost her," Santorum told an audience of 3,200 in a large, evangelical Des Moines church.

And Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann described the pain and uncertainty of her parents' divorce when she was an adolescent girl, but held back somewhat when asked what prompted her Christian awakening when she was 16.

"It is amazing to me how God uses those challenges to shape your life," Bachmann said of her parents' divorce, noting how it influenced her decision to foster more than 20 children in addition to her five biological children.

Texas' two candidates, Rep. Ron Paul and Gov. Rick Perry, did not offer revealing chapters from their lives as the others did. Paul described his early life during the Depression in Pennsylvania, and Perry, his upbringing in rural west Texas. Perry also described feeling lost upon his discharge from the Air Force at age 27.

"I couldn't understand what it was that was missing out of my life," Perry said, describing the moment he turned to his Christian faith. "In every person's heart and soul there is a hole that can only be filled by the Lord Jesus Christ."

Santorum was the most aggressive in trying to establish political edge during the event, arguing that the president must be a cultural warrior pushing for social change that reflects the nation's Judeo-Christian heritage.

Despite the religious theme, the discussion nevertheless revealed deep divisions about the role of government in shaping the nation's culture, illustrated by the libertarian-leaning Paul's rejection of an activist presidency.

"The goal of government isn't to mold society and mold people," Paul said. "The goal of government is to preserve liberty."

There was little dissention, prompting Luntz to comment: "You have more that you agree on than those small things you disagree on."

Still, the candidates were looking for votes with only six weeks until the caucuses and no consensus choice for evangelical conservatives in Iowa.

A recent Des Moines Register poll showed 37 percent of likely GOP caucus participants described themselves as born-again Christians. They are an influential bloc, and rallied to oppose the retention of the three Iowa Supreme Court justices on the ballot a year ago after the court's unanimous 2009 decision to nullify the state's statutory ban on gay marriage.

While the trend in Iowa is to stress the cultural issues, Santorum said there has been little national focus on issues central to this committed segment of the GOP base. Over 10 debates, there have been only five questions on cultural issues.

The crowded field of social conservatives has created somewhat of an opening for Romney in Iowa to stand out among economic conservatives. Last year, long-time former Gov. Terry Branstad won the nomination for governor over Vander Plaats, who campaigned largely on social issues.

Branstad, who attracted all six candidates to a political fundraiser after the forum, said Iowa Republicans' greater concern with the economy and spending could be an advantage for Romney.

"I think it could potentially help him here," he said. "You need to address the issues Iowans care about, and that's restoring fiscal responsibility and jobs."

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Online:

The Family Leader: http://www.thefamilyleader.com

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