With apologies to Thomas Frank, who wrote a book called What's The Matter With Kansas?, I have another thesis about what actually may be wrong in Kansas.  I suspect that this problem is common in states dominated by the Republican Party.

When one party dominates, then people gravitate to that party for reasons other than the express beliefs of that party.  Some Kansans are Republicans because they are young and don't know any better, or have friends and relatives in the Republican Party, or get jobs and therefore have a personal economic interest in being Republican.  They may not, however, necessarily believe in the principles that the party stands for.  The Republican Party stands for limited government control and free-market (i.e., non–big government) economic principles.

As some rise up in the party, or sometimes as a result of their personal electoral failures, they turn away from these principles to maintain their government power.  Hence, you have a large number of former Republican Party individuals who turned to the Democrat Party not because, as they often state, the Republican Party changed, but because their opportunity for power would continue as big-government Democrats.  Former representative Nancy Boyda, former state senator Jean Schodorf, and the current Democrat Senate candidate Barbara Bollier are all recent examples in Kansas.

Another famous so-called conservative turned big-government Republican is former Governor John Kasich of Ohio.  In an article about Kasich in Politico, the author wrote: "According to Politico, when contributor Randy Kendrick questioned Kasich's decision to expand Medicaid, he pointed at her and said with a raised voice: I don't know about you, lady, but when I get to the pearly gates, I'm going to have an answer for what I've done for the poor."

What Kasich has conveniently forgotten is that the Ohio citizens, not he, are paying for the poor through his government programs.

Kasich also famously enthusiastically added Ohio to the Medicare expansion.  In what I would call a quirk in Ohio law, the governor was allowed to do this without approval of the Republican-controlled Legislature.  The United States has the greatest health care system on the planet.  Canadians and Mexicans come here for their health care.  Even the poor people in Ohio have options.  Their options may be fewer than wealthier people, but they have options.  Once they become Medicare patients, they are stuck as subservient to the government for their health care.  This is a growing the government solution.  Not conservative at all.

What does John Kasich have to do with Kansas?  Well one of the current candidates to represent Kansas in the U.S. Senate is Representative John Marshall.  In 2016, with a huge field of Republican candidates to choose from, Marshall endorsed big-government Republican John Kasich.  Not Ted Cruz, not Marco Rubio, but John Kasich.

 John Marshall was also a member of the RINO Main Street Caucus, who, according to their website, are "solution-oriented legislators dedicated to defending Main Street Americans and advancing common-sense policies that can command bipartisan support."  That's bureau speak for big-government solutions, not free market.

The other candidate in the Senate race is former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach.  Kobach has been a vocal supporter of President Trump and a longtime supporter of the advancement of conservative principles all over the country, not just in Kansas.  He has led multiple initiatives for the law-and-order containment of illegal immigration and the law-and-order containment of corrupt voting practices across the country.  This is the kind of leadership that the president needs in the United States Senate.

Do Kansas Republicans think the corruption in Washington just needs to be managed?  Or does the swamp need to be drained?  Do the big government forces need to be confronted or worked with in a bipartisan fashion?  President Donald Trump is fighting the big government forces, and he needs help in the United States Senate.  Kris Kobach is the help he needs.

Image: Kris Kobach via YouTube.