As someone who was born and raised in Kansas and who lived there for 40 years - 20 in Lawrence, a liberal enclave - I have been saddened to see the state become the poster child for rightwing nuttiness of the worst possible sort. The back-and-forth fight over teaching creationism in public schools, the government's institutional harassing of abortion clinics, the hideous Phelps family (I was raised in Topeka) - it seems as if every time Kansas has been in the news it has been about yet one more outrageous event. That's why I was heartened today to see an article in the NY Times detailing the increasing numbers of gay people coming out of the closet there. And the stories included are not ones of pain and humiliation as much as they are about acceptance and unexpected support. Now that long-time Republicans are fleeing the nutjob-riddled party [note Boyda's win over Ryun,] has evangelical, rightwing political power peaked?
The thing that has increasingly bothered me about the depiction of Kansas' people in the press is that it is a direct contradiction of my experience of them. In general I have found them to be mild-mannered, generous, independent, convinced of the importance of public education and extremely unwilling to speak ill of anyone.
There are truer things about Kansas than that it is neocon-conservative.
Kansas is a rural state. Of 105 counties 78 have populations fewer than 20,000, 26 have fewer than 4,000. A total of 2.7 million people live inside the 200 x 400 mile borders (an area fully half the size of California.)
Life is different when your closest neighbors can live miles away. Self-sufficiency is a requirement and a willingness to pitch in to help everyone around you is essential. The same independence that makes this life attractive spawns personal eclecticism - and a tolerance of it. In general, a person's proclivities are less important to a community than the fact that he shows up with the volunteer fire department when a local building catches fire.
As I have watched events in Kansas from outside the state I have continued to root for the Republican party there to right itself (even though I am a lifelong Democrat.) The extremism it has been displaying in the last 15 years or so never seemed to accurately represent the collective personality of the people I know there. I now think that the state Republican party could be on the verge of destruction as moderates, tired of the fight, defect to the Democrats. A strong challenge to either of the US Senators is possible in this environment - and one, albeit improbable, win would make KS a truly purple place. And that's the kind of news I'd like to read about my home state.
One more thing about evangelicals in KS. I have to grudgingly admire their effectiveness in hijacking the Republican party - a very impressive example of what a small, modestly-funded grassroots political movement can do.
Kansas was created after an election to determine whether it would enter the Union as a slave state or a free state (free won.) It was an environment of ballots, bullets and blood. I now see it as a border state in the struggle for evangelical, political control.
Fun fact: Kansas was the first state to have a woman governor, a woman US Senator and a woman US Representative serving at the same time.