Dear Derek Schmidt

Dear Readers: I did NOT send this letter to Derek Schmidt, the Attorney General of Kansas, and I am sure he will never read this on my blog, but I wanted to share this with all of you. I am not sure what has happened to the Grand Old Party, but I have my eye on it.

Kansas Attorney General

Derek Schmidt

120 SW 10th Ave., 2nd Floor

Topeka, KS 66612

Dear Derek,

As a person who was born and bred in our shared small hometown, Independence, Kansas, I am so proud of your accomplishments! I have only met you a handful of times; but, I feel like I know you well because of our common experiences. As I mentioned at The Symphony in the Flint Hills this past summer, my mother, Peggy Coder, always told me you would be President of the United States someday and she was a diehard Democrat. She could see, even when you were a little boy, you had the potential to be a great leader.

She believed in you even though she did not believe in your party.

My mother had a keen eye for extraordinary politicians, and she also understood our best leaders consider all of the people when making policy. My father, a staunch Republican, however, believed that people should look out for their own family and their own well-being.

My parents debated these issues often in our home as I was growing up.

Now, after studying my father’s time in World War II and how he survived battles in the jungles of the Philippines, I completely understand why my father felt that way. He survived the war because it was a literal do-or-die situation for him. He did things that were beyond what humans should ever be asked to do and lived with it the rest of his life. If he had not looked out for himself, and all the other brave World War II soldiers had not done the same, he would have perished and we might not be living in a democracy right now. And, I would not be writing you this letter.

Dad managed to save himself, save a few of his fellow soldiers, and was awarded not only the Purple Heart but the Bronze Star.

Many nights I can remember my parents watching the news and discussing current events at the dinner table.

Mother always took the side of the poor and less fortunate, and thus the government, while Dad always defended the idea that people and corporations must be as independent of the government as much as possible.

Did they have a perfect marriage? Of course not, however, they were able to love each other in spite of their political differences and openly discuss the merits of both ideas.

When we were growing up, Independence, Kansas, was a community of people with differing ideas, but, as you remember, we all cared for each other, went to church together, and respected each other.

Do you remember those days? It can be done.

That is what we are missing today, and I implore you to look back on your upbringing and help our nation regain this sort of atmosphere again.

Derek, I was so disappointed that you accepted former President Trump’s endorsement and you challenged some of the 2020 election results.

You are not the Derek Schmidt my mother knew when you were a little boy.

She saw someone who could work across the aisle and who could see both sides of the story.

She saw someone who could represent our state and our nation with the common sense values for which Midwesterners are known.

She saw someone with compelling charisma, powerful intellect, and unfaltering integrity.

She saw someone who would be like the remarkable Bob Dole.

Bob Dole was such a revered and loved leader because it seemed he drew back to his small-town Kansas roots and advocated for all the people of Kansas.

My mother truly believed you would be Bob Dole 2.0, and you would use integrity as a guide and not be motivated purely by self-interest.

You should have distanced yourself from former President Donald Trump.

You should have stood up to him like Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney.

You should have told the American people that what he did on January 6, 2021, was reprehensible—because it was.

I wish we could turn back the clock so that you could do it all over again, but the deed is done.

I would have voted for you, Derek, because I wanted my mother’s prediction to come true.

Now, I am afraid, my poor mother is rolling over in her grave and I will never check a box next to your name.

Sincerely,

Paula Coder McCarthy