"Kobach and the Kansas GOP seemingly will stop at nothing to help their old friend Pat Roberts secure a fourth term in the U.S. Senate."

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Political comedy: Conservative Kobach reloads in defense of Democratic voters
By Jason Probst, September 19, 2014

Kansas Democrats seemingly have no greater champion than Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach who, along with other top state GOP operatives, is fighting tooth-and-nail to compel someone to run as a Democrat against Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.

Even Thursday’s unanimous ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court telling Kobach he was wrong to keep Democrat Chad Taylor’s name on the ballot has done little to slow the Secretary of State’s fierce defense of the Kansas Democrat. Kobach now says that he’ll delay printing of the ballots – set by federal law – and sue if the Kansas Democratic Party doesn’t name Taylor’s replacement. Ironically, such a decision by Kobach could delay mailing complete ballots to military personnel overseas – something Kobach proclaimed shouldn’t happen in 2011, when Kansas changed its laws to ensure absentee ballots contained complete information.

Never mind that Kobach’s policies have disenfranchised roughly 18,000 Kansas voters and that he has built national notoriety around legally making it harder for everyone to vote. When it comes to Democratic voters in Kansas, Kobach – a true conservative’s conservative – wants nothing more than to protect and preserve the rights of Democrats on election day. And he has backup from the Kansas GOP, long and well known for its concern for Kansas Democrats.

“We salute Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s courageous stand for the rule of law and look forward to learning who the Kansas Democrats pick to be their new U.S. Senate candidate,” Kansas GOP chairman Kelly Arnold said Thursday.

The reason is because Taylor’s or another Democrat’s name on the ballot would split the anti-Roberts vote now behind Independent candidate Greg Orman. The state’s high court ruled Friday that Taylor met the statutory requirement to have his name removed from the Nov. 4 ballot. Taylor maintained that he checked with Kobach’s staff and was assured that his name would be removed – and it was removed for several hours.

That’s until the hyperpartisan Kobach became involved and put on his honorary-member-of-Roberts’-campaign hat to say that Taylor must remain a candidate.

Then, a disgruntled registered Democrat from Kansas City also filed a complaint with the court, claiming his rights would be violated by Taylor’s withdrawal. Turns out he’s the father of one of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s campaign field directors.

As the political drama has unfolded in the past several weeks, Kobach and company have wailed about how unfair it is to see Democratic voters disenfranchised by Taylor’s withdrawal. And, they claimed, the law is the law, and it is meant to be followed.

Kobach and the Kansas GOP seemingly will stop at nothing to help their old friend Pat Roberts secure a fourth term in the U.S. Senate. But Kansans should clearly see Kobach’s actions for exactly what they are – a gross abuse of office for partisan gain. Kobach, who perhaps has more political capital than any other Republican office-holder in Kansas, is carrying the water for a politically troubled Roberts. That is the extent of Kobach’s concern for Democratic voters in Kansas.

Roberts, by the way, simply used the court’s ruling once again to scream “Harry Reid” in his best “get-off-my-lawn” voice.

The state’s top elected officials are playing political hijinks, all the while revealing there’s little they won’t do to keep their buddies and benefactors in office. But this political comedy is wearing thin. The jokes are no longer funny, and the characters are way too predictable.
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