Kansas GOP wants to kick minorities out of party leadership? Absolutely asinine | Commentary

I can no longer remain silent.

The idea proposed by the Kansas Republican Party’s rules committee to remove minority representation from party leadership is just asinine. It’s wrong, and it’s counterproductive.

As Republicans, we should elevating all voices who share our values and principles, especially minority voices.

The rules committee claims the change is being offered in an effort to align with the national GOP, and that the effort would streamline the party to better align it with national Republican Party rules.

The problem is that the current system is working just fine. The Kansas GOP is a big tent party, as evidenced by the inclusion of these very groups.

Removing them might be streamlining, but it’s not smart.

Ousting minority voices and elected officials who have won important elections is ill-conceived, lacks justification and shocks the conscience. It furthers division and discord and sends the wrong message at the very moment we need to be unifying, growing and working together on behalf of our candidates in 2023 and 2024.

Take for example Hispanic voters. One in 6 Wichita households is Hispanic. The local Hispanic population grew 133% since 2000, compared to negative-8% non-Hispanic growth. Their median age is nearly two decades younger than everyone else. They work hard, put family first, hold a strong faith and rarely ask for anything. Local Hispanic purchasing power has increased greatly as well.

Those are gains no other population segment can touch. Yet one of the very groups the rules committee wants to remove is Hispanic people.

At a recent Wichita Pachyderm Club luncheon, members of the rules committee, including their chairman, were pressed repeatedly to explain what urgent need has prompted the introduction of these rules. They were unable or unwilling to give an answer.

When asked if they would comply with state party Chairman Mike Brown’s call for another meeting to reconsider the matter, the committee chair said they were considering it.

What’s to consider? How much more do they want to embarrass the rest of the party? How much longer do they want Kansas Democrats to be able to fundraise off our party’s self-inflicted wounds?

The rules committee could or would not offer any legitimate explanation for subjecting our party to this chaos.

At a time when we should be focusing on door knocking and fundraising, we have to deal with this distraction. Our proper focus must be on promoting the principles found within our platform, welcoming anyone to our party who shares those principles, and then working together to nominate and elect candidates who will champion those conservative principles we all believe in once in office. And that must start at the top.

Harry Truman famously coined the phrase “The buck stops here,” because he understood that the responsibility for the actions of an organization ultimately falls on its leader. In this case, that is Chairman Mike Brown. Mike has said publicly that he has “committed not to put my finger on the scale in inner-party discussions.”

Fine. But Mike, you also have directed the rules committee to meet and reconsider its recommendation to the state committee, and that was more than a month ago.

Mike Brown, the buck stops with you. It is time to lead. It is time to demand that the rules committee meet immediately. It is time to kill this ill-conceived and unnecessary, divisive proposal. And it is time for you to fish or cut bait.

It’s been more 30 days since you called for action on this resolution. The members of the rules committee have disregarded your call. They do that either despite you, or as a favor to you — it no longer matters which.

Chairman, now is your time to lead. If you do not take action to end this, Republicans in Kansas should take action to remove you and replace you with someone who will.

John Whitmer is a Kansas Republican precinct committeeman and former member of the Kansas House of Representatives. He is the host of a conservative talk show on KNSS-1330 AM radio.