Now we take you to the great Republican state of Kansas, where Democrats went kind of bonkers trying to defeat Republican House candidates. Seems that freshman Republican House member Todd Tiahrt found himself in a close race against Democrat Randy Rathbun. Voters received anonymous phone calls informing them that Tiahrt had allowed his 15-year-old daughter to pose in " provocative" photographs. Turns out that Tiahrt's daughter had in fact been photographed -- four years earlier, and by a run-of-the-mill children's portrait studio. The photographs, to put it mildly, were far from " provocative" -- though the voters would have no reason to know that. No matter. Tiahrt won.
Elsewhere in Kansas, the Olympic runner Jim Ryun ran again -- for the House, as a Republican. Ryun is a serious, social-conservative Republican. His Democratic opponent, John Frieden, tried to make an issue out of that. An article Ryun and his wife published in Focus on the Family magazine was circulated by Democrats in the district. The piece described the Ryun family approach to dating: A prospective suitor must sit down and discuss with Mr. Ryun his views and intentions -- as in marital intentions. Mr. Ryun and the suitor must pray together. After this, the two sets of parents share a visit. Finally, if the young couple proves to have mutual feelings, the suitor might be included in various family outings.
Frieden charged that Ryun was "out of the mainstream." A "professor of social welfare" at the University of Kansas denounced the Ryuns as "extremely controlling" and "very patriarchal." And even Dr. Ruth was hauled out. "I actually think it's cruel to send a young person to a regular college with these kinds of interdictions," said the shrimpy sexologist.
Ryun won, too.