Over the last few months I've talked about several races around the state as must win races. And races where money and resources really belong. One of the races I have highlighted frequently is District 30, Lenexa Kansas.
There are so many great candidates in the state, but there are some opponents who are so bafflingly wrong that you actually fear what would happen if they were to be elected. Today, the New Republic published their article on the race going on in District 30.
This race features a woman who is a former NOW Lobbyist as well as someone viewed as a heck of a campaigner:
http://www.newrepublic.com/...
That was partly the result of Dickinson’s indefatigable door-to-door campaigning, but also of growing moderate Republican dissatisfaction with Kinzer’s social views. Dickinson is now running against Powell for the seat.
While the article praises Liz for her hard work, it is the interview with Terry Powell that proves stunning...
(more below the fold)
Randy Powell, a minister in a fundamentalist church, has long been known as someone who stands against most of the issues people in his district care about. In an interview over Common Core, Powell issued some doozies.. like the fact he is opposed to Common Core while acknowledging he doesn't know anything about it.. as well as his admission that he thinks the Department of Education should be done away with.
These kind of slip ups were common coin with Randy Powell, but it pales in comparison to him bringing back some old issues.
You see, Powell's issues page: http://randy-powell.com/... has moved back and forth on the things Powell believes in. Putting up taxes and education, where in prior revisions he had bullet points for Marriage Equality and others, now reduced to a single category.
In the New Republic interview, though, Powell can't hide where he really stands:
In contrast to Dickinson, Powell emphasizes his social and religious commitments. When I ask him about his differences with Dickinson, he says, “I think Liz is probably pro-choice, I would call her anti-life. I think she is concerned—is it the lesbian gay bisexual? Is it LGBT?—she was upset about that. I would look at it from the flipside of that coin. I think marriage should be between a man and a woman. Setting aside my religious convictions, show me a culture that has survived and prospered where marriage isn’t between a man and a woman.”
When I ask him about his emphasis on social issues rather than on taxes or education, he responds, “Let’s face it. When we look back on history, a tax cut for all Kansans is admirable, but when you look back at history, it is social justice that is remembered. Those are the kinds of thing people become passionate about, that make a difference. I’m all for the tax cuts, but the social issues are what really drive me.”
When asked to talk about specific issues, on the record, Powell is dismissive of the economy, tax issues, education.. no, the issue he's running on boils down to this: we must stop the gays.
What makes matters worse is that Powell doesn't say this as a matter to win votes - he asserts that this form of discrimination is, in fact, "Social Justice", highlighting that people are passionate about it.
In 2012, Liz worked up 46 percent of the vote with a campaign built on $2,000 and a lot of shoe leather. This time around, Liz is working a campaign where people know her - but it still requires a lot of shoe leather and time she is willing to give. She faced an opponent then with tens of thousands in resources, and a Republican tide. This time, she faces an unpopular Brownback and an opponent who is also not a big-money candidate.
This is the kind of small race with big impact on our lives in Kansas - elect one, and we will have two years of anti-gay, anti-woman proposals that make our state look foolish. Elect the other, and the state will have an office holder who represents those issues.
http://lizdickinsondistrict30.org/...