Topeka ? It’s no secret that Gov. Sam Brownback is a conservative who has no particular fondness for liberal politics.

It’s also no secret that the Lawrence community is widely viewed as being more liberal than the rest of the state.

But when Brownback routinely refers to his opponent, Democrat Paul Davis, as a “liberal Lawrence lawyer,” his campaign aides say people in Lawrence should not take offense.

“It’s not intended to be a pejorative on the city of Lawrence,” said Brownback campaign spokesman John Milburn, a Lawrence resident. “It’s simply intended to be an identifier of a liberal from Lawrence. It’s no more than that.”

Milburn used that phrase himself in a press release July 28, commenting on campaign finance reports that had just been made public and noting the Davis campaign had spent $565,000 in the reporting period without buying any radio or TV ads.

“I guess this is the kind of wasteful, out-of-control spending one would expect from a liberal lawyer from Lawrence,” he said.

Milburn was asked about the “liberal Lawrence” rhetoric on primary election night, Aug. 5, just after Brownback had given a speech claiming victory in the GOP primary.

“Kansans have a choice between my opponent, a liberal from Lawrence, a two-time Obama delegate who believes the answers to all problems lie with a government solution, or myself, a Reagan Republican who believes in lower taxes and more freedoms.”

The phrase was also used in a TV ad by the Republican Governors Association criticizing Davis.

“When few supported Barack Obama, there was a liberal Lawrence legislator who believed. Paul Davis helped organize Kansans for Obama,” the ad said.

But while campaign officials deny they’re using Lawrence as a symbol of everything Brownback dislikes politically, others say the meaning is clear.

“They’re trying to differentiate Lawrence from the rest of the state,” said Tom Beisecker, a professor and chairman of the communications studies department at Kansas University.

“Lawrence is known as having a different political representation than the rest of the state,” Beisecker said. “They’re trying to draw attention to that. They’re differentiating it from him, from his political beliefs.”

Milburn said the campaign team likes the phrase because of its alliteration: three words all beginning with the same sound.

Beisecker agreed that the alliteration makes the phrase memorable, but he says the phrase also serves another communications purpose.

“One way you can increase the polarity of your own side’s view is to trade it off,” he said. “Create an in group and an out group, us vs. them. The alliteration helps. But that’s the substantive thing that’s happening. Alliteration is yet another tool to make the comparison more pronounced.”

But even if Brownback is using Lawrence as a political punching bag, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Chairman Mike McGrew said he’s not concerned about it, and he acknowledged that Lawrence is perceived as being more liberal than the rest of the state.

“It sounds like politics to me,” McGrew said. “I don’t take it personally. I recognize the governor is running a campaign in 105 counties, and it just so happens his opponent is from ours. It doesn’t offend me. Being a little more liberal than conservative is kind of a good thing.”