Left Behind by the KRA

Today in Topeka, the Kansas Republican Assembly (KRA) announced its endorsements for the upcoming elections and shockingly Mr. Tiahrt was not on their list of true conservatives to vote for. For those unfamiliar with the KRA and its organization, this is basically the most conservative organization in the state. People that really want to fight for conservative values join the KRA, and the KRA helps its membership determine which traditional conservatives they should vote for.

In order to be endorsed by the KRA, a candidate for office must receive two-thirds of the vote during a meeting of their general membership. This practice is instituted to ensure that the organization only puts its support behind the most conservative candidates that it can find, and in practice it is a good way to determine whether or not a candidate in any Kansas election is really seen as a traditional conservative amongst the most right-wing members of our state.

While Mr. Tiahrt has spent much of the past year trying to portray himself as the true conservative in his Senate race, it is truly shocking that he was not endorsed by the KRA. It appears that the traditional conservatives of the KRA either do not believe Mr. Tiahrt is conservative enough, do not trust that he is honest enough, or believe that his seemingly more moderate opponent in the election is actually the more traditional conservative. After all of his hard work trying to portray himself as a true conservative, Todd Tiahrt has failed to get the endorsement of the truest conservatives in the state.

This is an incredibly troubling turn of events for the Tiahrt campaign, and one that could be very difficult to come back from. If Mr. Tiahrt’s entire strategy in this race was to portray himself as more conservative than his opponent, this is a critical endorsement to lose from one of the most conservative organizations in the state. It will be interesting to see how the Tiahrt campaign explains this colossal failure, and if they are able to competently convince voters that the KRA is wrong and that Tiahrt should be elected because of his conservative values.