HUTCHINSON — No matter which candidate they supported, anyone following Saturday’s gubernatorial debate could agree on one thing: it wasn’t boring.
A crowd of about 2,000 people watched Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, debate Republican Sen. Jim Barnett of Emporia at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. At times, the candidates had to battle the volume of the audience as much as each other, with cheers or boos occasionally drowning out the speakers.
“I thought it was great,” said John Kuhn, an Emporian who came to the fair to cheer on Barnett. “They both did very good. Of course, I’m a little biased, but I think Jim did really good.”
Kuhn sat near Barnett’s family and Rep. Peggy Mast, R-Emporia, who was also wearing the green-and-yellow T-shirt of a Barnett supporter.
“This was my first experience with seeing a live gubernatorial debate,” Mast said. “It was extremely exciting for me. I got a lot more excited than I’ve ever gotten at a ballgame.”
Both she and Kuhn felt that Barnett may have scored his biggest points on the immigration issue. During the debate, Barnett said that Sebelius had supported giving illegal immigrants driver’s licenses and in-state tuition at the state’s universities. He also suggested that a one-day trip Sebelius made to review Kansas National Guard troops in Arizona was merely a photo op.
“We do have a problem, including in Emporia,” Kuhn said. “It’s right there in our front yard.”
“I think what he said on the immigration issue rings pretty true in the hearts of the people of Kansas,” Mast said of Barnett. “Gov. Sebelius tried to minimize that, but it’s something a lot of people feel very passionate about.”
In addressing the issue, Sebelius said more border security had been promised by the federal government and not delivered, one reason why the Guard was sent in the first place. She also said Barnett did not understand the governor’s role as commander-in-chief of the Guard.
Lyon County Democratic leader Jerry Karr listened to the debate on the radio with about 20 to 25 people at the local party headquarters at 1101 Commercial St. He chuckled as he described the debate as “a little sparky” but said there were no real surprises.
“Of course, they challenged each other’s math,” Karr said. “We may hear a lot more of that — ‘Are we better or are we worse off?’”
Sebelius described the Kansas economy as far better now than when she took office four years ago, whereas Barnett said things were still rough, with high taxes discouraging many businesses from coming to the state.
Karr understood why Barnett reached for the immigration issue, but said it could come back to hurt him.
“The immigration issue is such an emotional issue,” Karr said. “But he’s hanging his hat awfully shaky, because he’s only got two pegs to hang it on — the driver’s license bill that was passed by the Legislature and in-state tuition, which only affects a handful of folks.”
Karr added that Barnett’s message could be misconstrued by Hispanic voters, hurting his campaign.
Chuck Hanna, Karr’s counterpart among the Republicans, was out of town during the debates, returning home Sunday.
“I’ve been on kind of a summer break from politics,” he joked.
Monte Miller, the former Republican head, also hadn’t seen the debate, though he did talk to Barnett afterward.
“He knows it’s going to be a tough race,” Miller said. “But when you’ve got two good candidates, that’s what you want.”
It’s a tight enough race that Bernie Collins, a past Democratic candidate for office, is having trouble choosing. He heard part of the debate on the radio while driving, which only underscored the difficulty.
“They are two good candidates,” Collins said. “Jim Barnett has expounded well the Republican ideals that endear most Kansans, while Gov. Sebelius was able to articulate the premise that the Democrats and her leadership are responsible for a statewide turnaround in the budget that she inherited.
“This is going to be a great race,” he added.
Some, like Emporia Mayor Jim Kessler, followed the debate secondhand through the press coverage afterward. It sounded like a good sparring match, Kessler said, but he wasn’t sure whether Barnett scored any crippling blows.
“I think he’s got a tough race to run, to try to beat her,” he said. “I can see why he’s making some of the points he does. He’s got to attack her somehow.”
Mast, meanwhile, thought it was significant that Sebelius made a couple of attacks against Barnett during the debate. Usually, she said, an incumbent can just defend the record and make the challenger do all the work.
“Apparently, she must feel pretty threatened,” Mast said.
Karr, on the other hand, noticed how Barnett sometimes seemed to be playing catch-up with his answers, opening a new question by making points from an earlier issue.
“He got himself behind, and he was still answering the question before,” Karr said.
Some were looking forward to the rest of the debates — especially if they stayed this lively.
“I’m hooked now,” Mast said.