Discussion for article #229396
“Orman is worth between $21.6 million and $86 million, according to previous disclosures.”
I’m sure that will make him very sensitive to the needs of the middle-class and poor. After all, he likes money so much and has so much of it, all he’ll have to do is imagine how big of a sad he would have if he didn’t have it all anymore, right? And so, what better way for someone to understand and sympathize with the plight of unwashed masses then for them to be rich? Heck, they probably understand better than the poor and middle-class themselves understand their own plight, so clearly they know best and should be making all the decisions for us.
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I disagree. Being wealthy doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t be sensitive to the needs of the middle class and the poor. The Kennedy’s are excellent examples of very wealthy people who’ve long been champions of the least among us. I don’t need a pol to be broke to understand the challenges faced by those less fortunate anymore than I need a politician to be a woman to understand women’s issues. I don’t begrudge the rich their wealth, particularly if they earned it themselves and are using it to help others.
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Granted…I was engaged in a bit of sarcastic hyperbole…but lemme ask: how’s all that richy masters-of-the-universey stuff working out for us so far?
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Who knows where that race is. The most current poll in the TPM Polltracker aggregate is five days old and it’s questionable because it’s a 7 day rolling average poll.
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I am not sure how much its going to help him at this late day though. My understanding of his basic problem is lack of a ground game, and he isn’t going to make one overnight no matter how much money he throws at it now.
Basically I think his own success in this campaign has caught him by surprise.
I would love to see him win, if only because I want to see republicans lose another seat, but its going to be close.
Fortunately he seems to be one who has not forgotten. His wife was a math teacher in one of KCK’s poorest school districts before leaving to earn a PhD in education. He was raised by his single mom with 6 sisters. Still seems in touch with the real world
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The issue is that not being a Democrat, he isn’t receiving the DSCC’s work in the GOTV area like other Democratic candidates are.
And quite frankly, even if the DSCC had wanted to provide that help, I am not sure how effective it would have been. He isn’t going to win this election based on Dem turn out, there just aren’t enough voters in Kansas that vote Democratic reliably. So their efforts would have only had a marginal impact at best anyway.
Orman needs all the Dems voting for him, and a sizable number of cross over republican voters. Currently there is a bit of an uprising against the current GOP taking place in Kansas, so that plays in his favor. But its doubtful for example, that he is coordinating,(or that their is really even that much to coordinate) with the campaign for the governor’s mansion.
So even if he had the time to build a ground game, it would be an extremely challenging endeavor. Sadly, its exactly the sort of thing I would want to volunteer for if I lived in Kansas, though.
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It used to work just fine. It’s not anymore but that’s largely because of very stupid people. The rich, imo, aren’t the problem. It’s poor and middle class whites that are the the problem. They’re the ones voting against their own best interest, voting against their children’s future.
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Haven’t seen your comments in a few days. Busy working for Alison?
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An appeal to purity doesn’t suit you.
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I was thinking the same thing the last few days.
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I’m hoping Brownback and Kobach are enough of a drag on KS GOPs to effect the race in Orman’s favor
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My worry for him was always a lack of ground game, and not just in getting voters to the poll, but in getting his message out. All of the news stories have been about the incumbent. There have been very few stories about Orman - what he stands for and what his message is. He seems to be playing defense too much, while his opponent is throwing red-meat and mud at every opportunity.
He is exactly the type of person I think we need in the Senate. Successful, but not out of touch and not beholden to anyone. He also oozes positivity and rationality. I just hope that is enough for the people who say they want more rational people in politics to ignore the politics-as-normal and vote for him.
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I know I have gone MIA a few times here recently, but unfortunately thats been due to a broken heel and not politics 
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Sure have! I’ve been doing phone canvassing. I didn’t realize how badly it would suck to have to talk to so many jackasses, but I guess it’s worth it. Greater good and all…
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I feel bad for liking your post because I hate to hear you broke your heel. I hope you feel better soon.
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I’ve heard of ward-heelers in politics, but never ward-broken-heelers.
Hope the foot heals (er, umm, put not intended?) quickly.
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And on a totally and completely shallow note, I want this guy to win just so I can look at him for the next six years. He is seriously fine.
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Perhaps…then again, this guy is running as a very wealthy independent in deep-red Kansas and I’ve seen enough Trojan Horse etch-a-sketching nonsense from these people over the past couple decades to have a healthy skepticism of anyone in his position. Keep in mind, however, that my opening post was tongue-in-cheek. Is it possible for us to have good wealthy representatives? Sure, but it’s trending in the wrong direction quite rapidly and accelerating as it goes along.
GOPers/Teatrolls like to point out that old quote about the masses voting themselves onto the public dole once they find out they can do so, but it’s rarely pointed out that this is largely another projection argument and that this is precisely what the wealthy are doing and achieving…and succeeding at it a whole lot better than the masses. Someone with this guy’s kind of wealth has to work very hard for me to buy his shtick if he’s telling me he’s all for Joe Everyman, the middle class and poor, etc., and not just for himself and the extremely tiny portion of Amurika that inhabits his economic strata. I feel entirely justified in that skepticism.