Apathy, illiteracy are dangerous
Mayor Bob Knight's resounding defeat, even at Wichita, was unexpected. Tim Shallenburger's victory is another step in the direction of conservative domination in Kansas. That trend is augmented by a mere 20 percent turnout at the polls. It's not tough for a vocal minority to win, when the majority doesn't vote.
Why doesn't the majority vote? They don't give a damn. Most people don't read a newspaper or know what's going on in government. That's true on all levels, including locally where a high percent of the population doesn't read because they can't read.
Newspapers are conducting a campaign to encourage literacy. But it's a futile effort to use newspapers to reach the illiterate audience. They can't read. An old saying with lots of truth is the one about those who don't read and don't vote. Even worse are the ones who can read but don't vote.
Our personal choice for the nomination as governor was David Kerr who is a moderate and knows full well that a tax increase will become necessary. Shallenberger's promise of no tax increase is not realistic.
It was refreshing to learn that Bill Kassebaum upset veteran Shari Weber in the House. Though candidates are virtual neighbors, eastern Dickinson and western Morris counties, they are poles apart in logic. Bill is a moderate, like his mother, a former senator.
A big disappointment was the loss by Val DeFever for the State Board of Education. Only two years after the embarrassment caused Kansas over the evolution furor, a conservative has upset DeFever, and since there is no general election candidate, the conservative has won the school seat.
This newspaper would rather see the public take a stand and vote out of conviction, rather than support a candidate which has the most misleading TV advertisements.
First, more than half the registered voters should vote. Then, they should make the effort to become informed by reading.
