By SJ Otto
In the wake of two big
time visits from President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in
support of Kris Kobach and other Republican candidates across the state,
Democrats rallied the troops, October 21, with a visit by Dan Glickman former
Kansas Congressman from the 4th District and former U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture.
"I was an elected official here for many years,”
Glickman said, according to KAKE
TV. “I just like to see people engaged."
Glickman has spent the weekend back in Kansas stumping for
Democrats like James Thompson, candidate for the US Fourth District House of
Representatives, Laura Kelly and Lynn Rogers, candidates for Governor and Lt.
Governor, Lacy
Cruse, running for Sedgwick County Commissioner, and Kansas
Representative John Carmichael among others. They gathered Sunday
afternoon at the Machinist Hall in Wichita , KS
I was there, just in time to see local Democrats speak.[1] Thompson
and Cruse are part of a movement to move the Democratic
Party to the left. In the past the Democrats have relied on a strategy of
raising lots of money, staying close to the center and avoiding controversial
issues that might offend voters. That strategy has not always worked and many
progressive Democrats are sick of it. Thompson, Cruse and some other Democrats
were able to fill Century II, earlier this year, with supporters of both their
campaign and the more progressive local Democrats.
“If you have pre-existing health conditions, you better
vote,” said Thompson. He added that his opponent
Ron Estes wants to get rid of the protections that Obamacare (Affordable
Care Act or ACA) has given people.
“They will allow insurance companies to discriminate against
people with pre-existing conditions and deny people health care,” Thompson
added.
He also pointed out that Trump and his Republican congress
people want to cut back on Social Security.
“They call it entitlements and they are entitlements,”
Thompson said. “You paid into them your whole life and they want to take that
away from you.”
Other Democrats warned that if Kobach wins the election, he
will damage
the public schools even worse than Sam Brownback did when he was governor.
This afternoon the theme was to get out and vote. Most of
the speakers said that there has never been a bigger difference between the
Democrats and Republicans in the state’s history. It was also announce d that about 40,000 Democrats
and independents have signed up to vote in the last week. This could spell a
big difference in the outcomes of these elections.
[1] Since I
am a Gonzo Journalist
I am able to put myself in the story when the need for that arises. This is a
part of being a Gonzo that I really like.
Many local Democrats were on hand today.
James Thompson warned Democrats that his opponent Ron Estes wants to cut back on people's health care.
Lacy Cruse was in the Maize Fall Festival Parade Yesterday.
There was an enthusiastic crowd with lots of Democrats.
No comments:
Post a Comment