Wichita Republicans could count on Bob Weeks to stand up for small government principles during the Obama administration. They still can count on him to do the same during the Trump administration. But the reaction to his activism has changed.
“I try to reason things through and try to be as consistent as I can and base my economic analysis on statistics, but Republicans are just throwing that out the window today, Anything that supports Trump they’ll believe and anything that doesn’t – no matter how reasoned it is, no matter where the data comes from – they won’t,” Weeks said.
The economy is a particular point of contention amongst Weeks’ local Republican critics.
“There’s people that are telling me, ‘Bob, where did you get your jobs data?’ These are the charts that show that the Trump economy is essentially just growing at the same rate as the Obama economy…and I say, ‘That’s a good thing that Trump was able to keep up this pretty good growth of the economy that started three or four years before he took office.’ They just can’t believe that because Trump says it’s the greatest economy ever,” Weeks said.
Before 2004, Weeks’ work life centered around his corporate career in software. But a political awakening spurred by the downtown arena sales tax led him to delve more deeply into activism centered around his libertarian principles. He started a Voice for Liberty, a blog that delved into mostly local and state political issues from a small government perspective. His blog eventually spawned 211 episodes of a television show devoted to similar issues on Kansas Great Plains Television. Weeks is also a regular panelist on KPTS television’s Kansas Week, where he offers political analysis.
Weeks’ Facebook page is a happenin’ place. Most days it is a battleground between pro-Trump and anti-Trump perspectives. Though Weeks usually shares articles with little commentary beyond his standard, “Oh well,” the response is always swift and certain.
“If a Democrat criticizes President Trump, well so what, that’s what Democrats do. But a lot of my criticism of Trump comes from a conservative or libertarian perspective. And that’s what conservative Republicans don’t like,” Weeks said.
Weeks’ posts criticizing President Trump are typically dispassionate, unless one categorizes “oh well” as a statement of passion. The responses can also be dispassionate, but often veer in one of several directions: that Weeks has Trump Derangement Syndrome (“TDS”) or that he is filled with hate for the president; questions about why Weeks does not or did not hold Hillary Clinton or President Obama to the same standards; or accusations that Weeks is citing “fake news.”
“Some people are praying for my soul. I don’t know if they want me to recognize Donald Trump as my Lord and Savior. That’s probably a little extreme. They are praying for my soul that I’ll stop this. Others want to call a psychiatrist and make an appointment for me. Some are just offloading steam, but some, I think, are serious,” Weeks said.
American politics have gone through periods of relative civility and other times when a statement on the floor of the Senate could result in being caned nearly to death. Weeks worries that the country is veering sharply toward a period of deep incivility.
“There’s been a severe coarsening of the way we conduct politics these days. It’s the way Trump insults his opponents. Not long ago there was the tweet where he called Never Trumpers – and I fall into that category – he called us human scum and very bad people. Sometimes Republicans will say, ‘That’s just Trump being Trump.’ Well no, I think that’s the way he really feels: that anybody who doesn’t line up behind him 100% is human scum. You see that even sometimes with his criticism of the Fox News network. I mean, a lot of those people have bent over backward to accommodate Trump. But once they stray a little bit and don’t give him full praise and support, he starts bashing them. My fear is that will be the new normal in not only the Republican Party but the Democrats…” Weeks said.
The reaction of Republican officials to the Trump administration particularly disappoints Weeks.
“I can’t speak to what’s in their hearts, but I think so many Republicans, from top to bottom, have bowed to the political reality that they’d rather have a job in the party and keep their office, and be a part of a winning team than a principled team. It’s very sad to see so many Republicans that I respected flip over like this,” Weeks said.
Weeks desires to stay a Republican primarily because he sees it as the best way to promote the libertarian principles he holds dear. He believes the Libertarian Party’s lack of electoral success makes it much less useful in influencing actual policymaking decisions. He had hopes that Republicans like Rand Paul or Ted Cruz could push the Trump administration toward those more libertarian policies. But his hopes have been dashed.
“Trumpism has set back libertarian momentum in the Republican Party. It’s set it back a long way,” Weeks said.
Though his social media may focus on national issues, a Voice for Liberty tackles local and state policymaking. Weeks knows that if he wants to make an impact on politics and policy, his best strategy is to concentrate close to home. Those issues – like revenue sharing at the Intrust Bank Arena, or the data that casts doubt on the amount of economic growth in downtown Wichita – may not be very sexy, but are a major focus for Weeks.
“We can band together and have a more substantial impact on local issues,” Weeks said.
Weeks has focused on battling what he believes to be a cronyism problem in the Wichita city government.
“We’ve seen a couple examples of this recently. Most notably, former mayor Jeff Longwell’s relationship with the consortium of companies that banded together to get the water plant contract. In general, there’s been the perception that there’s a crew of developers that get what they want from city hall,” Weeks said.
His battles against perceived cronyism have led to some strange bedfellows. Prominent state Democrat Gail Finney allowed him to use her name in a robocall when Weeks opposed the Ambassador Hotel industrial revenue bonds. He has also found himself on the same side as many progressives on the redevelopment of Naftzger Park. Weeks would eventually support Brandon Whipple for mayor because of his concerns about cronyism.
“[That] earned me a lot of contempt from Republicans, even though the mayor is a nominally non-partisan race. Obviously Jeff Longwell and Lindy Wells are Republicans and Brandon Whipple is a Democrat – he came from the legislature as a Democrat. Republicans that I knew talked about Jeff Longwell’s cronies, but they couldn’t get themselves to vote for anybody that was a Democrat,” Weeks said.
Though Weeks disagreed with now-Mayor Whipple on Medicaid expansion, abortion (Weeks is anti-abortion), and increasing taxes, it wasn’t a deal-breaker for him.
“Those are issues that aren’t really pertinent to city government. Brandon Whipple can’t really raise taxes here in Wichita by himself. He’d have to get a majority of the city council to go along with him. Also, we have a property tax lid – which some people think is full of holes – but nonetheless it offers some restraint on the ability of local government to raise taxes. You’re upset with Republicans but here comes a chance to vote for a Democrat, who may not be aligned with everything you like, but he’s not the Republican you don’t like!” Weeks said.
Though Weeks has been deluged with criticism from his fellow Republicans since he began to criticize the Trump administration, he has not let that stop him from writing about what he believes to be the truth. If he stuck to opining on local politics he would almost certainly avoid much of that criticism and find himself in better graces with the local Republican establishment. He says that he sometimes receives messages of support from elected officials or Republican Party leaders who appreciate his alternative voice in the party. But criticism from Republicans is much more common. Having thick skin is a useful quality in his line of work.
“You know, it hurts me some of the things people have said…A lot of them, especially elected office holders, I understand why they are going along with Trump. They want to keep their job and their elected offices. I’m not happy they are doing that but I kind of understand that’s where they are coming from. Other people I just can’t understand why. They are just throwing away any ability to reason and look at a situation and evaluate it.”
