To the editor:

He brought destruction to Kansas government and a fiscal catastrophe to Topeka. How did Sam Brownback get re-elected? Was it the money spent on his behalf, the unpopularity of Obama, benefit from the Roberts campaign, the Republican campaign effort, anti-Lawrence sentiment among the yahoos in western Kansas — or the World Series?

Davis could have overcome all these causes but not the character of the governor and the Brownback campaign. It ran two ads distorting the truth which were essentially lies: the “strip club” ad that implied Davis was for promoting drugs and pornography near schools and another that Davis was for overturning the convictions of the Carr brothers, convicted African-American killers in Wichita. The former was a smear, the latter an appeal to base race prejudice. The “Carr brothers” ad was especially insidious. The implied message was that because Davis supported the judicial system and role of judges he was for overturning the convictions of black killers. This was Kansas’ “Willie Horton” ad.

One raised questions about Davis for people who were ready to vote against Brownback’s record. Many probably didn’t vote. One appealed to base racial prejudice among voters who otherwise may not have voted. They made Brownback’s victory.

Brownback stated election night: “Praise be to God that we got across the line.” (Journal-World, Nov. 5) He  constantly proclaims his Christianity, wearing it on his sleeve. Most Christians would agree that a politician who resorts to lies, smears and racial prejudice is not following the example of Christ and has a hollow, hypocritical understanding of Christian morality.