Re: The real difference in the 2 party\'s economic policy
I also read the book. I found that it lacked rigor.
He assumed that most rational person from Kansas would vote Democrat-- based on class and economic reasons. Through his anecdotes he realizes that cultural considerations play a major part in the voting calculus. Although this goes beyond the scope of Kansas, I had hoped that he would give a strong economic case for the middle and upper classes (white collar?) to support the Democratic platform. His inability to prove the superiority of the Democrat's policies made his thesis difficult to accept. He spent too much time whining about cliched conspiracy theories of GOP tactics, instead of looking more at the growing policy divide between Kansans and Democrats.
Did it bother anyone else that he thought that since Kansas was a hotbed for radicalism in the 1890's and even earlier that contemporary Kansans were betraying historical precedent?
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