I don’t know if Kathleen Sebelius will run for U.S. Senate against Pat Roberts or not, but I hope that she does. Most people probably think it’s a crazy idea. A Democrat hasn’t represented Kansas in the Senate since the 1930’s. It’s an extremely conservative state where President Obama and the Affordable Care Act are unpopular. It would require Sebelius to raise a lot of money in a very short period of time. It would subject her to even more abuse than she was subjected to in Washington DC. And, apparently, she has a very young grandson who she wants to spend time with.
Yet, if she were to run, it would help the Democratic Party across the board. Why not have the chief implementer of ObamaCare running on her record of insuring somewhere around 10 million people? What the hell has Sen. Pat Roberts accomplished in the last six years? I’ll tell you what. Nada. Bupkis. Squat.
Roberts doesn’t even have a permanent residence in Kansas. He’s like Dick Lugar on steroids in terms of being out of touch with his home state.
I am no expert in Kansas politics, but I do know that the reason that Sebelius was a successful governor there is because there is a real split in the Republican Party between the Eisenhower branch of the party and the (now) Sam Brownback branch. And Gov. Brownback basically purged the Eisenhower branch during his first term in office.
There are no shortage of alienated Republicans in Kansas who voted for Sebelius twice and would be willing to vote for her again. To get an idea of what I am talking about, Sebelius and Roberts and their families are close friends.
If Sebelius were to run, it would a signal that there is nothing to be defensive about with the president’s health care law. It’s a positive.
Plus, Sen. Roberts is a weak incumbent who has only generic support. If he’s going to win reelection, it will only be because of his party affiliation and not because he is personally popular or particularly well-liked in Kansas. Ever since he saw his colleagues Bob Bennett of Utah and Dick Lugar of Indiana lose in primary contests, Roberts been has voting like he’s Attila the Hun. There’s plenty of room in the center to attack Roberts.
I hope that Sebelius makes a go of it. Even if she loses, she’ll encourage everyone else while providing them with some needed cover.
