The Cutting Edge

Kathleen Sebelius

Many Kansans woke up Sunday morning with heavy hearts. Last night, the news that their governor had been tapped by President Obama for the health and human services cabinet post spread like wildfire at church potlucks, restaurants, bars and wherever else people gathered on a Saturday night. (Yes, Kansas has bars. It’s no longer a dry state.)

But shouldn’t they be happy, proud, that their very own beloved governor, Kathleen Sebelius, is going to Washington for a high profile job? Certainly, she is qualified. Raised on politics, she is the daughter of the former governor of Ohio, John Gilligan. A trial lawyer by training—and former director of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, she spent eight years in the Kansas House of Representatives, then another eight years as state insurance commissioner. First elected governor in 2002, she is now in her second term—a Democrat elected twice in an overwhelmingly Republican state.

Her special strength has been her ability to bring parties together to accomplish things, which included balancing the budget in her first year in office, increasing spending for education and tirelessly bringing new business and industry to Kansas with special emphasis on renewable energy.

However, the last two years she has been embroiled in a coal power plant controversy that has created virtual gridlock in Topeka. In October 2007, Kansas Secretary of Health and Environment Rod Bremby denied a necessary air quality permit for the two 700-megawatt coal plants being planned in Holcomb, the tiny western Kansas town made famous by the Clutter murders and Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood. Bremby denied the permit on the grounds that they would emit dangerous amounts of greenhouse gases, posing a health hazard for Kansans in particular and the planet in general. According to Bremby, the two proposed coal plants would spew 11 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually.

Ordinary Kansans, both Republicans and Democrats, tend to side with the governor, if not for environmental reasons, because 86 percent of the electricity generated by the plants will be shipped to Colorado and Texas.

Angry legislators backed by powerful industry supporters passed a bill to allow the plants to be built and strip the state health and environment agency of its power to block them. Governor Sebelius vetoed that bill and two subsequent similar attempts in a tug-of-war and battle of nerves that still rages.

Last week, her Republican foes threw what they thought would be an irresistible carrot into their fourth bill to get the plants approved—several “green” initiatives, which Sebelius promptly termed as actually “olive brown.” Once again the bill passed. And once again, any minute now—if she weren’t flying off to Washington, Sebelius would be vetoing it. The Kansas legislature is five votes short of being able to override the veto. There are enough moderate Republicans with strong environmental consciences in the Kansas legislature to vote with Sebelius to block the plants.

But will Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson, a Republican turned Democrat, have the support that Kathleen enjoyed? Certainly his views are solidly behind Sebelius. But will he have the same clout? Can he sway Kathleen’s Republican supporters to stand firm against the vocal majority? Especially since quite a lot of them are still upset with him for switching parties to run for Lt. Governor in 2006. It doesn’t help that he announced a few weeks ago that he intends to leave public office to return to the private sector as soon as his term is over. And with the coal issue heating up again, those plants—financed by out of state utilities for out of state customers—could get built, ironically in a part of the state where the wind blows even harder than the politicians, making it ideal for vast wind farms.

Many in Kansas are worried. And not just on the coal plant issue—an overwhelming majority of Kansans don’t want those coal plants built, nevertheless their representatives in the legislature are hell bent on making it happen. For a variety of issues—from health care to education to sustainable agriculture to fiscal stability, many Kansans don’t want to see Kathleen go to Washington. Her Republican foes, however, are delighted at the prospect and, tongue-in-cheek, claimed to be lobbying Obama to appoint her.

Why is Kathleen Sebelius so beloved in a red state? What does she have that makes people love and trust her? She gets things done. She speaks softly but carries a lovely steel stick. She walks the main streets of little towns all over the state. She shows up at fundraisers and community events unannounced. You never know when Kathleen might drop by. And people love it.

But insiders fear that her knack for garnering bipartisan support in Kansas won’t translate to Washington. She’s not an insider in the halls of Congress who can work both sides of the aisle like a Tom Daschle could have. She’s well respected by the other governors, trusted by President Obama, but not that well known by congressional members. Furthermore, her soft-spoken polite style, so effective in Kansas, may not work in the rough and tumble world of D.C. hardball, especially in the area of health care reform, sure to be a controversial, polarizing fight.

So Kansans worry. For Kathleen and her rising career. And for the state of Kansas. We still desperately need her here. Almost wish someone would find a tax irregularity in her background and send her packing back home. But that probably won’t happen. Kathleen is squeaky clean, principled, and under the gentle veneer, tough as all get outs. She’ll pass muster, and we’ll just have to get along without her.