ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
People in Liberal had the opportunity to hear from an up-and-coming political third party, United Kansas, Saturday, and part of the meeting included a Q&A session.
One of the last questions asked by moderator Brett Lewis concerned how the party could break the cycle of toxicity surrounding modern politics.
“Politics is one of those unique topics where everyone has their views and opinions, but for the most part, we could all learn from each other if we would just sit down and actually talk to each other,” United Kansas Chairman Jack Curtis said. “In terms of combating the current political extremism, we’re looking at doing that in a couple ways. First, we’re currently in litigation to bring back fusion voting in Kansas. Fusion voting was a great idea that was super popular about 100 years ago, and it was super prevalent across the entire U.S. What fusion voting allowed was for minor parties to nominate and cross-nominate with the major parties. We’re coming out and saying we are for Kansas, we’re for folks being able to listen to us and speak about everything and identifying those folks who are already part of one of the major parties, because there’s no monopoly on good ideas. Being able to find those people we also believe in as far as believing in Kansas businesses and farmers and communities and wanting to help make the state better. Someone would be able to be a candidate for one of the major parties and for United Kansas, and that’s great because some more extreme voters wouldn’t be able to bring themselves to vote for someone just because of whatever letter is next to their name on the ballot. This also shows that candidate is loyal to Kansas first and won’t just toe the party line and always vote just one way. In addition to bringing back fusion voting, we’re also working to make sure every political race possible is contested and taken seriously – in the last election cycle, there were 49 races that went uncontested, but our democracy works best when political races are actually contested and the candidates have to legitimately work for your vote. We need more opportunities for respectful discussion and for people to be able to have their voices heard and represented.”
“I would like for all of the hate around politics to be removed and for everyone to respect each other’s opinions more. We don’t have to be mean to each other, or ugly to each other,” former Kansas State Board of Education member Sally Cauble added.
Lewis’ final question then concerned ensuring Liberal’s voice being heard in Topeka.
“People have to participate. Not everyone knows how hard it was to set up town meetings and other similar events in Western Kansas, or how many people I had to call to get them to even come and just listen to some different ideas,” Cauble said. “We’ve got to stop being scared, and we’ve got to stop worrying about whether or not our business(es) will be affected because we believe a certain way politically. We as U.S. citizens have the right to believe any way we want in terms of politics, and we must bring that back. We’ve got to stop being afraid and start stepping up. I heard a teacher say recently how children just don’t care anymore, but you know where they get that apathy from? Their parents/guardians. If their parents/guardians don’t care, why should the children? If we don’t care, why should anyone else care? The only way we’re going to solve our problems is by finding people who care. In the state of Kansas, there are committees that were put together by Gov. Kelly about rural issues and water issues, and they’re having trouble getting legislation passed. And it’s not because the legislation/idea is bad, it’s not because there’s not a need – Kansans came together to be part of a solution, so why isn’t anything happening in Topeka to move anything forward? Because the powers that be want it done their way and only their way, with zero wiggle room, and that’s got to stop. Let’s find people who are strong enough to stand up – Kansas was not wimpy when it was founded, let’s make it that way again.”
“Making sure Western Kansas’ voice is heard has to start exactly like Sally said, by us going out and about in the state and making sure we are, in fact, listening to everyone possible,” Curtis added. “It’s atrocious how Kansans are able to stand up and say ‘This is what we need,’ but those needs aren’t being addressed by anyone or taken care of. We’re committed to making sure Kansas is being served in their communities and in Topeka. We’re not looking for a long list of donors who will dictate how we vote, we’re making sure people are being taken care of and looked after, and part of that happens by people coming to town hall meetings and other similar events and talking with us about what’s important to them. The needs of someone living out here could be completely different than the needs of someone living in the Kansas City metro area, but we want to represent everyone and listen to everyone. There’s no more time for reactionary thinking, we have to be proactive in our work, which is why we’re traveling throughout the state hosting town hall meetings and talking to people.”
