Kansas’ Anti-Gay Bill May Have Been a Delightfully Ironic Political Ploy
Kansas’ 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 state’s reputation. Yet while the dust has largely settled, a central mystery remains: If the bill’s 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? Here’s 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. Brownback’s 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.
If this theory is correct, Brownback’s maneuver is both deeply shrewd and jarringly callous.
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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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