Inside Kansas' Conservative Civil War

Kansas Republicans will soon pick the next Senator from their state. But how do you vote when there are only minute differences between the candidates?

On Tuesday, Kansas Republicans will go to the ballot box to pick their candidate for Senate, and in all likeliness, pick the next Senator from their state. In this tight primary, Kansas congressmen Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt differ only minutely in their voting records and policy prescriptions.

With no substantive differences between the two candidates, voters have to resort to superficial cues. It is not enough to be pro-life – you must smile while you say it; it’s not enough to be conservative – the term must be dropped repeatedly in speeches.

Kathryn Jean Lopez promotes this narrative in National Review Online, noting that while both congressmen have pro-life voting records, Tiahrt is a mainstay at pro-life events, making him “devoted”. Despite admitting to his pro-life record, Lopez says that “the same cannot easily be said of Moran.”

Lopez also quotes a former Moran campaign worker as evidence of the Moran-as-moderate narrative. “Jerry Moran winced at the frequent use of the words ‘conservative’ or ‘pro-life’ to portray himself out of fear he might offend moderate or pro-choice voters,” said former Moran campaign manager Paul Moore.

Jonathan Rauch writes an insightful article in National Journal, arguing that over the past decade, the country has grown more conservative, but less Republican; and that the ideological group with the largest growth is the independent conservative.

What would these independent voters see in Kansas? Two candidates with virtually identical voting records and conservative credentials. Moran has a lifetime ACU rating of 91.74, Tiahrt 93.88 (a voting difference of 1.14% over the course of 12+ years); Moran has an ‘A’ from the NRA, Tiahrt an ‘A+’; Moran has Sen. Jim Demint’s endorsement, Tiahrt has Sarah Palin’s.

There are few races in the country where Moran wouldn’t have been able to seize upon the ‘conservative’ mantle. But in a race where the differences are infinitesimal, candidates have to reach out to these newly independent conservatives – every vote counts.

With no room to create policy differences, these new groups of voters depend on signs of ultra-intensity: candidates must not just decry liberal policies, but march in rallies while they do it. They can’t just have a conservative record, they must grin and say ‘conservative’ again and again and again – and with mounting gusto!

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