Tony: Bland Leading The Bland In The 3rd District

The vast majority of JoCo Republicans give me hope because they are far more dedicated to watching “Dancing With The Stars” than expressing their so-called political ideals. In fact, the so-called Republican majority in JoCo is so apathetic that they’ve let Congressman Dennis Moore run them over for years without a serious challenge. Only now that the guy is about to hand his office over to his wife is there even a slight bit of hope that the GOP might win the Congressional seat back.

True to form, The Kansas GOP is tearing itself apart in a struggle to find the party’s real identity. And all of this could once again hand over the seat to a Democrat who doesn’t have to do much more than stay above the fray. There’s a chance for the GOP to avoid another embarrassing 3rd District loss. Sadly, most hate radio inspired Republicans don’t like it.

And this is where Kevin Yoder enters the picture. Sun Publications Head Honcho Steve Rose picked this guy to walk away with the election early on and that prediction seems to be playing out nicely. Yoder leads this race in terms of fundraising and he has been steadily picking up endorsements. Meanwhile, the complaint that keeps surfacing against Yoder is that “He’s not really a Republican” as the “Republican In Name Only (RINO)” slur matters to anybody outside of a gun convention. Still, a look at Yoder’s priorities will quickly reveal that chasing brown people isn’t part of his platform and that’s pretty much the litmus test for all of those folks who live and die by what they hear on hate radio.

Make no mistake Yoder seems like a moderate and maybe that’s the only kind of Republican who can beat Stephene Moore — A lady whose only qualification for the job might be that she did a Congressman’s laundry for many years.

Still, the danger here is that the most ardent members of the GOP will simply grow bored of this bland match-up and stay home. What this really reveals is the JoCo GOP base is hostile, angry, vocal but very small in the grand scheme of things. The beige enclave is mostly home to people who don’t care about Rush Limbaugh says and the reign of Dennis Moore and even the mere possibility that his wife could take his place speaks to this fact. Yoder pulling ahead also offers a hint that most of the other GOP perspectives in this race are nothing more than fringe elements as well.

In the final analysis, the Tea Party movement simply hasn’t taken hold in JoCo and that’s significant given that this microcosm of American society cares more about personal wealth, and politicos who are agreeable more than phony populist ideology bombarding cable news channels.

Tony Botello