A Democratic death wish? Is the lack of Democratic energy part of a

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Feb 12, 2001 by Capital-Journal

Today is Feb. 12, and last month a Democratic governor gave a rousing State of the State message. The Democratic speaker of the House is trying to rally his majority in moving legislation through a closely divided chamber, while the Democratic Senate leader negotiates seriously with his Republican counterpart over legislative priorities. Two veteran Democratic members of the U.S. House have returned home for the President's Day recess. All in all, it looks as though traditionally Republican Kansas has become a truly competitive two-party state.

Of course, there's a catch. Although this narrative is factual, the date is Feb. 12, 1991, not 2001. In the 10 years since that high- water mark of Democratic electoral success and policy influence, the party's trend line has moved steadily downward with scarcely an upward tick. In 1991, for example, there were 63 Democrats in the House and 18 in the Senate. As of 2001, those figures are 47 and 10, respectively.

In fact, over the past few years there have been exactly two (count 'em, two) bright spots for the Kansas Democratic Party. First, Kathleen Sebelius won the post of state insurance commissioner in 1994, and repeated in 1998. Second, Dennis Moore beat one-term Republican Rep. Vince Snowbarger to win the Third District Congressional seat in 1998 and two years later won re-election in a tough battle over Phill Kline. That's it. Kathleen Sebelius and Dennis Moore.

During this decade of Democratic decline, one party figure has been a constant --- first as House minority leader (1993-8), then as a 1998 gubernatorial candidate, and most recently as the chairman of the Kansas Democratic Party. Wichita's Tom Sawyer has been there, through thick and thin. Except, of course, for the last few days of the 2000 campaign, when he announced --- with exquisite timing --- a decision to quit the chairmanship and lobby for Sedgwick County (a decision that he reversed a day later).

No one would argue that the Democratic nosedive is his responsibility alone. There are plenty of culprits. None of them, however, has sought to lead the party. But Sawyer has. After two years as state chair, he is seeking another term. Truly remarkable. What's even more remarkable is that, in a true affront to common sense, he may actually win the position. That simply defies the imagination, at least mine.

Commissioner Sebelius, the only legitimate Democratic gubernatorial candidate on the horizon, wants Sawyer out. Representative Moore, facing redistricting and another bloody congressional race, wants him to go. And both the House and Senate minority floor leaders have declared against the Wichita Democrat, and have expressed their support for Johnson County attorney Jim Borthwick, the Sebelius-Moore candidate for state chair.

Political parties, to be sure, are about more than winning. But if you don't win enough, you don't have much of a party. Ask the Senate Democrats, who currently caucus in a large phone booth.

Kathleen Sebelius and Dennis Moore have earned the right to name the chair of the Kansas Democratic Party. They've done it the old- fashioned way, by going out and winning tough electoral contests. They've demonstrated that they can raise money and excite their supporters. Tom Sawyer makes the inflated claim that he raised $1.2 million for the party in 2000. Moore raised 50 percent more than this (almost $1.8 million) for a single House campaign, and helped the state Democrats to boot. As for Sebelius, she is arguably the only candidate who can energize Democrats statewide in 2002.

If Kansas Democrats don't reward their most attractive, most prominent elected officials with their own choice as party leader, we'll know one thing --- that Democratic Party functionaries simply are not serious about winning in 2002. To the contrary, re-electing Tom Sawyer represents a death wish for a troubled party.

Burdett Loomis is professor of political science at The University of Kansas and program coordinator of the Robert J. Dole Institute for Public Service and Public Policy.