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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKansas’ Anti-Gay Bill May Have Been a Delightfully Ironic Political Ploy
By Mark Joseph SternKansas abominable anti-gay segregation bill already feels like a distant memory. Only two days after it overwhelmingly passed the state House of Representatives, the state Senate effectively killed it, leaving little in its wake except a wave of outrage and a smudge on the states reputation. Yet while the dust has largely settled, a central mystery remains: If the bills passage was far from assured, why did representatives vote on it in the first place? Why did the Republican Party overwhelmingly support a divisive and controversial bill that stood a good chance of dying in the state Senate? Heres one theory to explain the vote that outraged a nation.
Recent polls have indicated that deeply conservative Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who faces re-election this November, is surprisingly vulnerable, possibly even trailing Democrat Paul Davis, the current House minority leader and probable Democratic gubernatorial nominee. Brownbacks fundraising has also been unexpectedly shaky, while Davis has been remarkably strong. Part of Davis ascendance in the polls depends on his business-oriented strategy: His campaign has sedulously avoided social issues, sticking to economic and education matters. And, on those fronts, Davis is winning.
Brownback knew he needed to force Davis hand to bring social issues into the spotlight, but Kansas law is already as anti-gay as it can be. In order to revive a moot issue, Brownback may have surreptitiously encouraged and approved the House version of the Kansas bill. (Prior to the vote, the governor consistently claimed he hadnt yet read the billa shocking claim, given that its a mere two and a half pages long.) From there, everything went according to what I suspect was Brownbacks plan: Davis voted against the bill, but he did so very quietly so as not to alienate moderate and conservative Kansas Democrats. As a result, the left, yearning for a more vociferous champion of equal rights, grew disenchanted with Davis muted opposition. Whats more, the right now has a club with which to bludgeon Davis when social issues arise in the gubernatorial race.
If this theory is correct, Brownbacks maneuver is both deeply shrewd and jarringly callous. The Kansas House faced derision across the country following the vote, and Republicans in the state Senate openly labeled the bill discrimination. Brownback essentially threw his own party under the bus in order to score a few political points. In interview after interview prior to the vote, he studiously avoided supporting the bill as it was written, instead praising the broad principle of religious liberty without explicitly endorsing the bill at hand. His words certainly gave the impression of support. But now, following its calamitous implosion, Brownback has continued to refuse to comment directly on the bill that drew shock and fury nationwide.
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http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/02/21/kansas_anti_gay_segregation_bill_was_the_discrimination_law_a_ploy_by_gov.html?
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