Editorial: Experience counts

Maintaining Republican leadership is important to the state and the nation.

A few weeks ago, President Obama emphasized he and his name would not be on Tuesday’s ballots but all of his policies are on the line — make no mistake, all of them.

This being the case, the Kansas election has special significance, particularly the contest between incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts and his challenger Independent/Democrat Greg Orman.

With Obama having two more years in the White House and with his determination to make fundamental changes in America being as real today as it was when he first campaigned for the presidency in 2008, a Republican majority in the Senate is one of the few ways to tone down or weaken the president’s plans.

For months, political pundits have had a field day trying to predict the outcome of Tuesday’s election and whether GOP candidates will be able to squeak out enough wins in Senate races to give Republicans control of both the Senate and the House.

The Roberts-Orman race could be THE pivotal race and, for this reason and the importance of preserving the strengths and values of this country, it is important Roberts be returned to office. He has done a good job of representing Kansas.

Hopefully, if the GOP gains control of the Senate, this nation will see a properly functioning legislative body, working with the House and the president to address and pass badly needed legislation that has remained stalled to the detriment of this country. The public is understandably disappointed and frustrated by the destructive stalemate in Congress and the White House.

The governor’s race between incumbent Republican Sam Brownback and his Democratic challenger Paul Davis, a Lawrence attorney, is another cliffhanger. Brownback enjoys an impressive record in the U.S. House and Senate and he has extensive background and knowledge of agriculture and its importance to the state. For various reasons, such as his tax policies, funding for education, the state’s fiscal situation and a rebellion among Republicans, he is facing an extremely tough battle for re-election. It is interesting that other Republican governors in other states also are encountering similar hurdles but they have not been attacked as viciously as has Brownback.

Davis lacks the experience of Brownback and was an early and active organizer, supporter and campaigner for Obama. He has failed to produce any significant agenda of what he wants to accomplish if he should be elected. However, as Obama states, Obama’s policies are on the line in Tuesday’s election and Davis is assumed to be prepared to endorse many of the president’s plans for America. His running mate, Jill Docking, also was, and probably remains, a strong Obama supporter, but it is interesting that neither Davis nor Docking brought Obama acolytes in to boost their campaign. In fact, they relied more on discontents within the Republican Party.

Do Kansans want two Obama supporters running the state?

Brownback has had his own troubles working with a Republican-controlled state Legislature. How would a Democratic governor work with a Legislature with a large GOP majority?

Brownback should have learned from the mistakes he made in his first four years in office, and it seems reasonable to think that, if elected, he would adopt a more effective, productive agenda in his final four years, working with a Republican-controlled legislature.

Both Roberts and Brownback carry some serious negatives and scars into Election Day, but it seems likely they have the experience and ability to serve and represent Kansas better than their opponents, Orman and Davis.