Saralee Says
I would rather dig ditches than read a book about current political events. I do not find the enjoyment of escapism that I do in ancient history or even history that is 200 years old. But if you want to understand why the middle of the United States now votes red in presidential elections then I highly recommend What's The Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America (Metropolitan Books).
When I think of Kansas I think of a long flat state that is a tedious drive on the way to the beautiful state of Colorado. It is known for great basketball programs and a lot of agricultural products. It was home to President Dwight Eisenhower and former presidential candidate and Sen. Bob Dole. What makes this state worthy of a book?
Those who study the history of Kansas remember that the progressive activities of the populist movement and the Free Soil Party were common in that state. Moderate Republicans from Kansas include Dole and former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum who is married to former Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker. Thomas Frank, who writes for Harper's and The Nation and who authored One Market under God (Doubleday) believes Kansas is unique because it has moved from a hotbed of progressive causes to the far right. How did this happen?
The chapter "Con Men and Mod Squad" explains it best. "Con" stands for conservative and Frank narrates an intriguing explanation of how the blue collar conservatives made the "mods" or moderates share control of the state Republican Party. The wealthy moderate elite had ruled the Kansas Republican Party for years. The "mods" were and are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Most are for a woman's right to choose, for integration, and especially for the best public schools possible. Many moderates were uncomfortable with sharing their religious faith when they ran for office. That has changed and the "cons" who are mostly blue collar and evangelical are making the "mods" become more conservative on social issues, according to Frank. How similar is this to what has happened to the power structure within Tennessee's own Republican Party?
Larry's Language
This disappointing book is modeled on an 1896 essay by Kansas newspaper man William Allen White glorifying the common man and attacking the Kansas political radicals who were followers of William Jennings Bryan. You remember Bryan, the Nebraska orator, lawyer and Democratic presidential candidate who wanted to revolutionize our economy while defending the accuracy of the Bible and combating Charles Darwin and evolution at the Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tenn. That is a pretty good summary of how political issues and candidates are complex and difficult as author Frank figures out what has changed and why in his home state of Kansas.
The unsatisfactory aspect of this book is perhaps my fault. Based on the timing and the talk about What's the Matter with Kansas?, I expected an explanation of why Kansas state government banned "evolution" from its public schools in 1999. There is only half a chapter about the evolution battle and that short discussion fails to identify the leaders on each side and fails to explain the ban. Instead the author gives us his life story growing up in a Kansas City suburb (skip reading those parts) and writes several highly interesting chapters on the evolution and division of the Kansas Republican Party in the 1990s that mirrors the national Republican Party.
It all started with Operation Rescue, the anti-abortion political group, and their violent protests in 1991 in Wichita, Kan. Their successes motivated and energized the conservatives to take over the state Republican Party. The battles between the Kansas moderates and Kansas conservatives have nothing to do with economic and personal issues of jobs, education, healthcare, income and taxes, but instead focus exclusively on the cultural issues of abortion, homosexuality, evolution, censorship and patriotism. Frank carefully details how the political success of the Kansas conservatives depends entirely on talking about these issues, but never doing anything about these values.
Frank covers everything from how the conservative Republicans want to repeal President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, wage class warfare on cultural values as well as their opinions on racism and intellectuals. This is not a battle however between Republicans and Democrats in Kansas. This is fight to the finish between conservative and moderate Republicans.
Join us for our next book club discussion which will feature Gilead: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson.
