Wednesday, September 23, 2009
A girl on my floor has no knowledge of American football. I don’t fault her ignorance at all. The world might be a better place if we all paid less attention to football on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and focused more on the challenges and joys of our collective existence (and this comes from a person who cried when the Chiefs ended their 1997 season, at home, in the divisional playoffs against the Broncos after a 13-3 regular season).
Besides, I know there are many issues that people know and care deeply about that I might never understand.
For the first Monday night game of the year, I found myself sitting next to her thinking about this and was compelled to ask, “How much do you really know about football?”
“Nothing,” she said with a chuckle, conveying that she truly meant it.
She said she didn’t mind if I tried to teach her about football, so I proceeded to give a run-down of all that came to mind — downs, defenses, Steve Young (he was a part of the broadcast team) — but after a minute or two I could tell I had lost her. Her face did not show the understanding someone does when they have learned a concept.
I was out of practice in explaining the absolute basics of the game.
From this experience I reflected and realized that my first two columns, though I was proud of them, might need the support of more information to be more easily understood by someone not as interested in state politics as I am.
It occurred to me that political columns such as my own, if not those of other topics as well, might spend a disproportionate time proffering an elevated argument to the few rather than attempting to educate an audience that is skeptical about concerning itself with a political environment as polarized as ours.
So, let’s begin anew.
In 2010, statewide elections will engross Kansas. The state offices of governor (lieutenant governor runs on the same ticket), secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer and insurance commissioner will be up for election by all Kansans for four-year terms. All 125 state House of Representatives seats, who serve for two years, will also be voted on next year.
At the federal level, there are four U.S. House of Representatives districts in Kansas, all of which will be up for grabs in 2010 (half will not have an incumbent in their races, but half have a competitive look, anyway), as is one of the U.S. Senate seats.
My intent for this space continues to be discussion of issues and both potential and actual candidates in relation to next year’s elections (for a listing of names and races, please see my blog on Kansan.com).
But I’m not interested in expressing a strong opinion. I’d much rather teach something instead. What would you like to know?
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Holmes: Back to basics: Kansas Politics 101
Moran > Tiahrt. That's all you need to know for 2010.
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