Mike Matson

Electing a Democrat to the United States Senate is something Kansas Republicans do about once every national crisis. The last time it happened, Herbert Hoover was president. Apparently we like to give these things some thought. Democrat Adam Hamilton has a chance to end that streak by defeating incumbent Republican Roger Marshall. It invites a question more interesting than whether Kansas is trying on purple. What has to happen inside a reliably Republican voter before th

You start with the premise that no one is paying attention. So it’s your job to get their attention. When you finally have it, you won’t have it for very long. I learned that lesson three decades ago in political campaigns. Keep the message simple and short. Repeat it until you’re sick of hearing it. “Bill Graves packs ‘em high and tight.” In a campaign, the candidate has two jobs: Be at the right place at the right time and stay on message. The campaign itself has on

I have lived long enough to remember Muhammad Ali, Johnny Carson and Vietnam. Elton John, Farrah Fawcett and the arrival of major league baseball free agency. Some of those things are still with us. Some aren’t. And some have changed so completely that explaining what they once were requires the sort of historical context normally reserved for the Roman Empire. I remember the Interstate highway system being new. There was an actual thrill to riding in my grandfather’s ai