Kansas GOP Insider (wannabe): June 2019

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Jerry Moran Uses the 'G' Word, Signaling Run for Governor

Sen. Jerry Moran came roaring back to the Sunflower State this weekend quasi-inferring he plans to make a run for the state's top job in 2022. He told grassroots Republicans at the annual Olathe Republican Party picnic June 22 that we can't take Kansas for granted after the Kansas Supreme Court invented a right to abortion in the Kansas Constitution.

"...We don't have to go far from home to see why who is Governor and who is deciding about judges is important," Moran said. 

The state's junior Senator, Moran, headed the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2012, and he credited his leadership at the NRSC with helping win back the Senate Majority in 2014. I personally think they have some blood on their hands for the way the NRSC propped up Thad Cochrane, Weekend-at-Bernie's style, to keep Chris McDaniel out of the U.S. Senate.* In Monan's defense, the good guys did take back 9 seats during his NRSC tenure. 

"We now need to focus not only on Washington," Moran told Olathe picnickers on Saturday. "We can't take Kansas for granted. I'm fully committed to working with folks across Kansas who want a different result in 2020 and 2022."

Moran has an uncanny ability to just disappear when the going gets tough only to suddenly reappear someplace else, like Wallace County shaking hands and kissing babies. He sometimes uses his cape of invisibility to conservative advantage. Back in 2003 as a young(er) Congressman, Republican U.S. House leadership tried to strong arm Moran into voting in favor of an expensive, bloated Medicare prescription bill backed by then President George W. Leadership locked down the House in the middle of the night and placed doormen at the exits, preventing "no" votes from leaving the House floor. Moran somehow escaped. It passed the House, without his vote, in the wee hours of the following morning.

His vanishing act was in full force during the 2018 election in Kansas. He refused to endorse, even in the general election. He ALWAYS refuses to publicly endorse, though he'll toss indirect support. Like a magical, invisible cash fairy, Moran sprinkled six figures into various Republican-leaning Kansas PACs in the lead up to the 2018 election.


My guess is he's about reappear and commandeer the Kansas Republican train to ensure Gov. Laura Kelly is a one-termer. I mention all this now for two reasons: 

1. Every breathing Republican within approximately 1,200 miles of Topeka is eyeballing the U.S. Senate seat Pat Roberts is about to vacate. For the record, Washington is about 1,200 miles from Top City. (Ahem. Matt Schlapp. Ahem. Mike Pompeo. Ahem. All the Barcaloungers in Kansas are occupied.)* If Moran decides not to run for a third Senate term, it could relieve some pressure on what is shaping up to be a crowded Republican Senate race in 2020. 

2. Moran would likely clear the Republican field in a 2022 gubernatorial race. I'd gladly board that train.



*Self censored. (I am going to start using asterisks when I stop myself from saying out loud stuff I shouldn't. You're welcome. It makes me feel better. And when I get up to 25 asterisks, I'm going to reward myself. You, too, can feel free to buy me a cookie  -- or something low carb, like an avocado -- as a reward the next time you see me.)