Sebelius Wins Lottery… Again!

How lucky can Kathy Sebelius be?  Let me count the ways…

She got into politics in 1986 as a representative in the Kanss State Legislature, in part due to her father, John J. Gilligan,  having been Governor of Ohio in the 1970s, and her father-in-law, Keith Sebelius, who represented Kansas’ 1st District in the US House of Representatives.  And they say America hates dynasties.

Having spent a few years in the Kansas House, she set her sights a little higher.  There was the little-noticed position of Insurance Commissioner that had been solidly in Republican hands for over ten years.  How she got the job is part of Kansas political laugh-lore. 

The Kansas Insurance Commissioner for 20 years had been a guy named Fletcher Bell, and he was a typical conservative Republican of the times, entitled to all the perks of office, tenure, and the full support from the insurance companies he was supposed to oversee.  They filled his political coffers with donations because he was one of them, on their side.  He was, in other words, a political hack.

In 1991, Insurance Commissioner Fletcher Bell had a dreadful, debilitating accident, which entitled him to collect a $94,000 disability settlement while still receiving his salary as a state official.  The accident occurred when he single-handedly attempted to lift a briefcase from the trunk of his car.

So, old Double-Dipper Bell was lounging at home, ostensibly nursing his back, drawing his salary and benefits while on Disability Leave.  Meanwhile, his assistant, another old conservative Republican named Ron Todd, was acting Commissioner.  Then came the next election, and Ron Todd got the nod.  Natural Selection at work.

Somewhere during this time, an alert reporter snapped some pictures of the disabled Fletcher Bell working out in his yard, practicing his golf swing, if I recall correctly.  This outraged the sensibilities of most Kansans.  I mean really, swinging a golf club with a disabled back?  Unacceptable!  Most Kansans know if you want to heal an ailing back, try baling hay.

Seriously, Kansans were outraged by this seeming impropriety by the past Insurance Commissioner and his hand-picked successor, who of course did nothing by way of looking into the fraud.  So voters were ready to throw the bums out.

In 1994, a politically-connected woman in the Kansas House of Representative, a Democrat with the familiar name of Sebelius (her father-in-law represented Kansas’ largest district for many years), raised her long bony arm and volunteered to take on the Big Insurance companies.  She made her biggest campaign issue the fraud within the Insurance Commission, and she pledged to take no campaign money from the Insurance Industry, not that any was offered.

Kansas voters were so angry at the fraud, they had no problem voting for this female Democrat in the heavily Republican state.  It was almost as if they were slapping the faces of the old Commissioners.  “We’re so mad at you guys, we’re going to replace you with a Democrat.  And not only a Democrat, a woman!  Stick that in your corncob pipe and smoke it!”

But to the surprise of nearly everyone, she did a great job!  She kept her promises to accept no donations from insurance companies or their lobbies.  She was quick to slap the hands of insurance companies that didn’t do right, and she became a strong advocate for the public good.  She was very popular, except with insurance companies.

Then, after serving two terms, she set her sights on the Governor’s Office.  Kansas had a female governor before, and she was also a Democrat.  The first female governor, Joan Finney, served from 1991-1995, after having been State Treasurer for 16 years.  Both female Democrats won by the same tactic: divide and conquer.

Although the Democrats are the minority party in Kansas, the Republicans are about evenly divided between Conservative and Moderate.  The Moderates have the best luck in running for office, because they can draw votes from registered Democrats in the General Election.  But with closed primaries in Kansas, only registered Republicans can vote in primaries.  So every election cycle, the primaries draw heavy attention as the Conservatives and Moderates battle it out for the coveted Republican nominations.  The Democrats usually support the Conservatives during the primaries, knowing that Moderate Rebublicans will beat Democrats, but Dems can often beat a Conservative Republican.

When Joan Finney was elected governor in 1991, she was totally surprised!  She had not counted on winning!  But the Republicans put forth a Conservative candidate so off-putting to most people, she won easily.

Same thing happened when Kathy Sebelius ran for Governor.  The Republicans tore each other to pieces during the primaries, and the Conservative won the nomination.  Kathy beat him 53% to 45%.

Lucky lady!  Had the moderate Republican been her opponent, she would have lost in a landslide.

Again, she surprised even her critics by being a pretty decent governor.  I can’t name particular accomplishments she has to her credit, but considering she has dealt with a strong Republican majority in both Kansas houses, she’s held her own and done quite well.

In 2008, she was on Obama’s early list as a VP candidate, but that field was very complicated, as we all know.  Choosing a female running mate who was not Hillary Clinton would have been a very nasty choice, a bullet that Obama deftly dodged.

She was then placed on the list of possible cabinet positions.  She didn’t make the first cut, but here comes Tom Daschle as the nominee for HHS, and he looks like a sure bet until his tax issues sunk his battleship.  Good riddance to that jerk, sez I.

So now, after a surprisingly long wait, Obama picks Kathy Sebelius for the HHS post.  This is the position that will oversee the medical shake-up that was called for by Hillary Clinton in 1992.  This is Hillary’s Baby.  It seems almost sacreligious for a woman who opposed Hillary’s candidacy to now have the position and power to bring Hillay’s dream to reality.

But I have to say, Hillary has her job, and a damn good one.  If I had to choose someone to run with Hillary’s baby, I can’t think of a better candidate for the job than good old Kansas Kathy.

After all, she has Lady Luck solidly on her side!