Out Damn Spot
Kansas: Digging Graves
Mark Miller, executive director of the Republican Leadership Council and Foundation for Responsible Government, greeted Kansas Gov. Bill Graves's (R.) smashing victory over former state party chairman David Miller by saying, "The voters of Kansas united behind a broad message of lower taxes and less government and rejected a narrow single issue candidacy." Huh? David Miller ran as a conservative across the board, to the Governor's Right on taxes, guns, and campaign finance as well as abortion. Perhaps Mark Miller means that David ran on a bunch of single issues. (Miller said the same thing about the Pennsylvania primary challenge to Rep. Bill Goodling, which was even more bizarre since both candidates were pro-life; the unsuccessful conservative challenger focused on issues like missile defense, school choice, capital punishment, and term limits.)

In this pro-incumbent year, David Miller probably couldn't have won under any circumstances. But a tip of the hat to Gov. Graves for running a brilliant campaign. He ran, in fact, as David Miller, spending $1.6 million to paint himself as a tax-cutter and leader of the anti-abortion cause over the last two years. Miller ran a decent campaign--his one major tactical error was not defining himself early on taxes, thus letting the governor muddy the issue--but he was effectively pinned to his base. Graves can now sleepwalk to a general election victory; he already has the endorsement of the state AFL-CIO and NEA affiliates. (The NEA mailed unmarked campaign literature on his behalf--a practice which, when performed by the Right, elicits angry calls by the Governor for prohibition.)

In 1996, conservatives won intra-party skirmishes about candidates-e.g., Sam Brownback won the Senate primary and Vince Snowbarger a House one-at the expense of losing skirmishes about party slots through inattention. This year, they lost both. Miller mobilized the left wing of the party. Conservatives' statewide and precinct efforts weren't co-ordinated, and neither had enough resources.

On the bright side, the head of a libertarian/conservative think tank won the nomination for insurance commissioner.