Kansas man Brian Matlock runs as Republican Socialist for Senate

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > Kansas man Brian Matlock runs as Republican Socialist for Senate

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

Leavenworth Times posted:

In what appears to be a crowded GOP primary, one candidate is running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas as a Republican socialist.

In what appears to be a crowded GOP primary, one candidate is running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas as a Republican socialist.

Brian Matlock said both the Republican and Democratic parties overwhelmingly serve the interests of wealthy corporations.

He said the cost of health care, education and housing have risen while wages have been stagnant.

�We need a different way forward,� he said.

Matlock, who visited the Leavenworth Times on Tuesday, said he supports more power being placed in the hands of people at the community level to solve needs.

He believes there can be a coalition between what he calls good neighbor Republicans and common sense socialists.

Matlock, 35, is seeking the Republican nomination in the race for the Senate seat currently held by U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts. Roberts has announced he will not seek reelection this year.

Originally from Idaho, Matlock has lived in Kansas City, Kansas, for 11 years. He is a candidate for a doctorate in economics.

Matlock admits to having switched his party affiliation to the Democratic Party in 2016 to vote for Bernie Sanders in that year�s Democratic caucus. Matlock said he voted for a third party presidential candidate in the 2016 general election because he did not like the options offered by the two major parties.

One of the things Matlock is advocating for as a senatorial candidate is a job guarantee program, which he proposes would be federally funded but locally administered.

He said such a program would serve as a stabilizer for the economy. He said the program could be relied on during periods of rising unemployment. He said people could transition from the program as the economy improves.

Matlock also supports providing Medicare to everyone in the country.

�It would be more efficient,� he said.

He said such a program can easily be paid for. If people look at the cost of health care as a tax, he said, they would save money through a Medicare for all system.

Several other Republicans have announced they are running for their party�s nomination in the U.S. Senate race including U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

With no name recognition and without the backing of large donors, Matlock acknowledges he is facing an uphill battle in the Republican primary. But he feels the race is winnable.

He points to the low approval rating of Congress.

�People know there is a problem and what we�re doing now is not working,� he said.

Matlock believes a crowded primary race helps a candidate who is an outsider.

Just discovered Republican Socialism right now:

quote:

Republican Socialism is the movement to revive our dying communities, both urban and rural, by using Federal dollars to fund local, community-driven projects, particularly in low-income areas. It is a movement to unite Kansans who are tired of the status quo. It is about the coalition between good-neighbor Republicans and common-sense Socialists. Both coalitions want to pitch in, take care of each other, and have meaningful work that enriches our lives, rather than jobs with long hours and low wages to further enrich billionaires.

quote:

We know that communities across Kansas are full of potential. In Southeast Kansas, in places like Humboldt, Iola, Ft. Scott, and Pittsburg, an incredible amount of emphasis has been placed on a trail system that will increase walk-ability and bike-ability between communities. While some of the trails have already been built, the vision is much more expansive. We want to use Federal dollars to help these projects come to full fruition. Using funding from national policies like a Federal Job Guarantee and a Green New Deal, we can put dozens of people to work in good paying jobs, and help Southeast Kansans realize their goals of a healthier and more connected region.

In Kansas City, there is a project already in the works to revitalize a once vibrant African American neighborhood using a community co-operative model. A grocery store is the first step, but the funding to get the project started is still out of reach. The vision for this neighborhood goes beyond just a grocery store, though, as there are many additional needs in the community. It is completely viable to envision the neighborhood being equipped with a community-owned and operated hardware store, a restaurant where the food that is served is grown from the cooperatively-owned greenhouse next door, as well as many other amenities that keep people happy and secure in their place of residency. This would revive the vibrancy of the neighborhood while directly benefiting the local residents who are shareholders. Under our proposals, this community-driven program would receive the Federal funding necessary to jump-start the project, give folks meaningful work that benefits their direct neighborhood, and root out the income inequality that currently exists in the area.

The FAQ

quote:

What's Republican about it?

The values of hard work, local control, and individual ethics are central to the world we are trying to build. This isn�t about big government fixing our problems. It�s about taking the public money that is currently going to corporations and redirecting it to our communities to let us get to work fixing problems and reaching our goals.

A Republic is supposed to be a government by the people for the people. What we have is a government controlled by the few for their own benefit. This campaign is about putting decision-making control into the hands of the people.

quote:

What's Socialist about it?

We know there are people who equate socialism with dictatorships and Soviet-style central planning, but we use the word �socialism� to mean community ownership of resources, and �Republican� to mean local communities make decisions about how these resources are used, rather than federal bureaucracies. Both �Republican� and �Socialism� are important to our platform and vision.

Just like with a potluck, socialism is where everyone shows up, pitches in, and asks if there is anything else they can do to help.

quote:

What�s the difference between Republican Socialism and Democratic Socialism?

Republican Socialism is a branch of Democratic Socialism: they both want to achieve the goals of socialism: where we take care of each other and put people over profit, but through democracy not force. Republican Socialism draws more influence from libertarian socialist theory that emphasizes empowering local communities and participation of those most affected rather than centralizing decisions. Emphasis on workplace democracy, participatory budgeting, and local administration of programs like the Job Guarantee are aspects that resonate with the Republican focus on local control and the good-neighbor ethic.

So basically trying to revive some populist agrarian co-op energy, except from the GOP side. (Which is ironic because the rural Populists merged with the Democrats, while the Progressives that merged with the Republicans were far more urban.) He also coins a "good-neighbor Republicans" brand while calling for ICE to be abolished and decriminalizing border entry.

His candidacy isn't going to go anywhere, but it's interesting that anyone is even trying to do this.

# ? Mar 11, 2020 23:37

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 9, 2024 06:14

Egg Moron: Jul 21, 2003; the dreams of the delighting void

Worth a shot, not a real fan of academics myself but I wish this guy the best

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:00

Crowsbeak: Oct 9, 2012; by Azathoth; Lipstick Apathy

He really should try to mix this with Maoism. I exposed a bunch of Republican (non TPUSA) millenials to Maoism and they were quite sympathetic. Albeit mostly about publicly owning the libs software companies and forcing the libs to have to work on their parents farm for a year.

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:03

BrutalistMcDonalds: Oct 4, 2012; Lipstick Apathy

set sail for fail

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:03

spacemang_spliff: Nov 29, 2014; wide pickle

Hmm I wonder if I can still switch party affiliation

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:04

Nonsense: Jan 26, 2007

How do we set up his Patreon

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:05

Fallen Hamprince: Nov 12, 2016

this is a better plan than just running third party but is still not actually a good plan

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:05

Sheng-Ji Yang: Mar 5, 2014

calling it socialism is the problem here. just pretend youre a republican but focus on "coastal elites" and "wall street vs main street" over everything else and you can probably win. you gotta huey long that poo poo, say your wealth tax is from the Bible & Declaration of Independence not from Marx

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:06

Babysitter Super Sleuth: Apr 26, 2012; my posts are as bad the Current Releases review of Gone Girl

eh why not

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:06

Sheng-Ji Yang: Mar 5, 2014

like, the GOP is probably extremely vulnerable to this kinda poo poo, but you got to play it smart. dont come out of the gate calling yourself a socialist.

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:10

Fallen Hamprince: Nov 12, 2016

Sheng-Ji Yang posted:

calling it socialism is the problem here. just pretend youre a republican but focus on "coastal elites" and "wall street vs main street" over everything else and you can probably win. you gotta huey long that poo poo, say your wealth tax is from the Bible & Declaration of Independence not from Marx

i agree with shengji, with the caveat that it would still probably be p difficult since most republican primary voters in kansas are in fact conservative - ted cruz won it overwhelmingly in 2016. but the approach has some potential in states that are a little bit, for lack of a better term, 'whackier', like maybe WV or AK

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:14

Colonel Cancer: Sep 26, 2015; Tune into the fireplace channel, you absolute buffoon

Just throw in Nationalism and he'll be a major hit :xd:

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:17

spacemang_spliff: Nov 29, 2014; wide pickle

Sheng-Ji Yang posted:

like, the GOP is probably extremely vulnerable to this kinda poo poo, but you got to play it smart. dont come out of the gate calling yourself a socialist.

yeah pretty much

this dude could clean up in rural KS but you can't use the S word around those chuds

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:19

Victory Position: Mar 16, 2004

Fallen Hamprince posted:

this is a better plan than just running third party but is still not actually a good plan

if the guy's sincere about his ideology, better to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks

this is the state that more or less gutted itself thanks to Brownback

# ? Mar 12, 2020 01:37

StashAugustine: Mar 24, 2013; Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

Sheng-Ji Yang posted:

calling it socialism is the problem here. just pretend youre a republican but focus on "coastal elites" and "wall street vs main street" over everything else and you can probably win. you gotta huey long that poo poo, say your wealth tax is from the Bible & Declaration of Independence not from Marx

The trick is, assuming you're not a complete shithead, trying to do this without getting racist

# ? Mar 12, 2020 05:32

StashAugustine: Mar 24, 2013; Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

That said Godspeed

# ? Mar 12, 2020 05:32

not an endorsement: Mar 14, 2008; Personally, I think it's problematic that a sitting Senator has a racial slur for a last name.

literally reads like normal left libertarian socialism ~~except this dude is probably a racist~~ guess he's not!

e: call yourself a democratic confederalist my dude republican means too much in the usa

not an endorsement has issued a correction as of 07:39 on Mar 12, 2020

# ? Mar 12, 2020 05:35

DrSunshine: Mar 23, 2009; Did I just say that out loud~~?!!!

Personally I think it's a brilliant hack! Run as a Republican in a red state, assume that the typical voter is a low-info moron who will pull the lever if they see (R) next to the name, and be a socialist regardless. Socialists throughout the country should run as whatever is the most popular party in their area and govern and advocate for socialist policies regardless of their stated political party.

# ? Mar 12, 2020 05:36

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

I just found it funny because he's literally calling himself a republican socialist because he's from Kansas and thus from a Republican family, and is punning off of Sanders' described "democratic socialism", and his definitions of both "republican socialism" and "Republican" as seen in the OP are using the asinine American colloquial definitions of "democracy vs. republic" so favored by the Free Republic boomer conservative crowd. It's definitely novel branding. Also, there's always been weirdos running in the major parties as the diametric opposite, like pro-life activist Randall Terry for the Dems and gay rights activist Fred Karger for the Repubs, but Matlock seems to be trying to doing it in a less wild-eyed perennial candidate kind of way and making something more systematic and believable. Kinda reminds me of the hopeless GOP guys trying to primary Trump, including transhumanist Zoltan Istvan who has a grosser UBI proposal than Yang did. It's as if people have caught on that the duopoly is undeniable and trying to take over the party from within is more effective than running third party.

That said, Brian Matlock is sadly doomed this time as a political newb, he seems new to the public speaking thing despite being quite photogenic. Here's his first interview and he comes across as pretty unexperienced. I also listened to him on talk radio with some Kansan Republican John Whitmer and while he gets his policies across, Whitmer just calls him out at the end. Hopefully this will be a practice run for him to establish "republican socialism" as a 21st revival of farmer-labor politics.

# ? Mar 12, 2020 07:14

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

not an endorsement posted:

literally reads like normal left libertarian socialism except this dude is probably a racist

Besides abolishing ICE as linked in the OP, one of his policies is criminal justice reform and he's said he's running to stop Kris Kobach

Campaign Guiding Principles

quote:

1. Priority hiring for folks who are struggling the most, from communities that are struggling the most. This includes low-income folks, Black folks, and Indigenous folks.

2. Ask low-income folks and low-income communities directly what work they want to do in their neighborhoods, towns, and counties. Don�t settle for hearsay from elected officials and non-profit organizations.

3. Maintain thoughtful, bold optimism. Kansans come together, pitch in, and persevere. Apply this same positive, proactive determination to tackle the biggest challenges of our day without mincing our words about how tough people have it.

4. Stay rooted in our local areas. The fact that we come from different places across Kansas is a strength. Find ways to support the work that low-income communities are already doing in our communities.

5. Have fun! The last thing Kansans need is another jaded, hardened career politician looking out for him or herself in D.C. Build a movement that doesn�t just support the work happening in local communities across Kansas, but that also brings a dish to the potluck, and jumps up to join the folksdanslag.

lol this guy is to the left of Buttigieg

# ? Mar 12, 2020 07:22

Sheng-Ji Yang: Mar 5, 2014

StashAugustine posted:

The trick is, assuming you're not a complete shithead, trying to do this without getting racist

yeah

# ? Mar 12, 2020 07:24

stephenfry: Nov 3, 2009; I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.

isn't this guy a gender essentialist nazbol

also ground floor

# ? Mar 12, 2020 07:25

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

Where did you get that from?

# ? Mar 12, 2020 07:27

not an endorsement: Mar 14, 2008; Personally, I think it's problematic that a sitting Senator has a racial slur for a last name.

Maximo Roboto posted:

Besides abolishing ICE as linked in the OP, one of his policies is criminal justice reform and he's said he's running to stop Kris Kobach

Campaign Guiding Principles

lol this guy is to the left of Buttigieg

why is this allegedly intersectional soft ancom running as a republican

e: ah, saw your prior post. it's cool, but i don't think it'll work re: voter base, and i really object to using "republican" in this sense when surrounded by boomers who mistake it for their ideology

not an endorsement has issued a correction as of 07:34 on Mar 12, 2020

# ? Mar 12, 2020 07:31

super sweet best pal: Nov 18, 2009

Republicans running to the left fiscally might help put some pressure on the Democrats to do the same. It's probably their only chance to remain relevant once the boomers die out.

# ? Mar 12, 2020 07:48

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

idk if he made this himself, but looks like Republican Socialists of America is a meme:

https://www.facebook.com/RSAalltheway/
https://twitter.com/SocRepublican

lol nice

https://twitter.com/KansasBrian/status/1196938292912099328

This may or may not be effective, but it certainly is entryist

# ? Mar 12, 2020 07:49

JosefStalinator: Oct 9, 2007; Come Tbilisi if you want to live.; Grimey Drawer

Words have no meaning and it rules

# ? Mar 12, 2020 07:52

not an endorsement: Mar 14, 2008; Personally, I think it's problematic that a sitting Senator has a racial slur for a last name.

Maximo Roboto posted:

idk if he made this himself, but looks like Republican Socialists of America is a meme:

https://www.facebook.com/RSAalltheway/
https://twitter.com/SocRepublican

lol nice

https://twitter.com/KansasBrian/status/1196938292912099328

This may or may not be effective, but it certainly is entryist

actually on second thought this dude might actually be brain dead and is incomprehensibly trying to tie vague libleft ideology with classical republican liberalism because "hey republicans care about the lil guy and being folksy!"

literally struggling to find a link between libertarian leftism and the republican party, ends up with "well rural republicans are Very Good and corporate neoliberals are Very Bad", which is a true take in some sense but...

https://twitter.com/SocRepublican/status/1162817315395817472
https://twitter.com/KansasBrian/status/1208487677919682567
https://twitter.com/KansasBrian/status/1223361418478739456

not an endorsement has issued a correction as of 08:02 on Mar 12, 2020

# ? Mar 12, 2020 07:58

not an endorsement: Mar 14, 2008; Personally, I think it's problematic that a sitting Senator has a racial slur for a last name.

anarchist with republican parents and an econ degree doesn't wanna call himself an anarchist

# ? Mar 12, 2020 08:03

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

Well, the Republican Party did have some leftist factions at the turn of the century up to the end of the WWII or so- the LaFollettes, George Norris, William Borah, Bull Moose Progressives and so on. Matlock isn't really drawing from that history explicitly, but he does talk about agricultural cooperatives a lot. There's also been some not-quite-left tendencies in the Midwestern milieu that are localist, communitarian, pseudo-Distributist- they like saying "subsidarity" a lot- such as the Front Porch Republic blog. Matlock emphasis on Republican Party = rural localism kind of makes sense from a branding perspective if he's trying to reach out to those people. In an age where Bernie Sanders is trying to retake socialism as a label it's at least marginally less scary than anarchist.

# ? Mar 12, 2020 08:14

not an endorsement: Mar 14, 2008; Personally, I think it's problematic that a sitting Senator has a racial slur for a last name.

Maximo Roboto posted:

Well, the Republican Party did have some leftist factions at the turn of the century up to the end of the WWII or so- the LaFollettes, George Norris, William Borah, Bull Moose Progressives and so on. Matlock isn't really drawing from that history explicitly, but he does talk about agricultural cooperatives a lot. There's also been some not-quite-left tendencies in the Midwestern milieu that are localist, communitarian, pseudo-Distributist- they like saying "subsidarity" a lot- such as the Front Porch Republic blog. Matlock emphasis on Republican Party = rural localism kind of makes sense from a branding perspective if he's trying to reach out to those people. In an age where Bernie Sanders is trying to retake socialism as a label it's at least marginally less scary than anarchist.

thanks for the link, i sincerely know very little of the republican fringe factions and their history and i'm pretty interested now!

there's no doubt that calling yourself anything but an anarchist is a good idea -- i mean, hell, my understanding is that bookchin called himself a libertarian/municipalist later on to get away from it -- but judging from his mentions and retweets he's not hitting his intended republican audience but fellow libertarian socialists who describe him as "one of us, but running republican"

i will say that it's definitely a good thing to approach republicans with a sincere non-scary presentation of socialism of which they can understand the appeal of, just not an election-winning one

not an endorsement has issued a correction as of 09:00 on Mar 12, 2020

# ? Mar 12, 2020 08:20

Delta-Wye: Sep 29, 2005

not an endorsement posted:

anarchist with republican parents and an econ degree doesn't wanna call himself an anarchist

That was my takeaway too. This may actually been the first time in a long time where I've been reading about a republican candidate and thinking "yeah, I could vote for this guy". A cursory googling didn't result in any info about how he felt about foreign policy (I kinda care at the senate level about that), but I'm not from Kansas so whatever in the end.

I think this goes to show if you take a bag of candy and write "DOGSHIT" on the bag, lo and behold, it's now just a slightly less appetizing bag of candy.

# ? Mar 12, 2020 08:54

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them.

https://twitter.com/jonivy/status/1206651522978762753
https://twitter.com/jonivy/status/1208891761990369281
https://twitter.com/jonivy/status/1188590433082830848

Platform

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U71N_4IqYH4

His examples of progressive Republicans are Lincoln, Grant, and Hiram Johnson... lol

# ? Mar 13, 2020 02:09

thewoof: Sep 11, 2006; My eyes are the eyes
of a dead man.
I feel the unholy stream.

http://matlockforsenate.com/frequently-asked-questions/

quote:

How are you gonna pay for it?
The same way we pay for �forever war.� Federal money does not operate like a household budget � the federal government creates the money that it needs for the things it wants to spend money on. As a PhD candidate in Economics, Brian has an extensive understanding of how our currency works.

He actually said it! Even Bernie plays into the "We need a balanced budget, but only for things the left wants" framing.

# ? Mar 15, 2020 17:53

Helsing: Aug 23, 2003; DON'T POST IN THE ELECTION THREAD UNLESS YOU JOE BIDEN

I mean sure, why the hell not.

# ? Mar 15, 2020 19:36

His Purple Majesty: Dec 12, 2008

I'd toss him a vote if we're in my state

# ? Mar 15, 2020 20:41

Hilario Baldness: Feb 10, 2005; Grimey Drawer

I've legit thought about doing this myself.

# ? Mar 15, 2020 23:03

thewoof: Sep 11, 2006; My eyes are the eyes
of a dead man.
I feel the unholy stream.

I mean, at a certain point, it's worth asking if the left has a better shot of taking over the Republican Party than the Democrat Party. They seem to be more open to brash outsiders, wary of elite opinion, and are only slightly more hostile to socialism.

# ? Mar 15, 2020 23:55

Shear Modulus: Jun 9, 2010

proud to announce that im running for congreas as a Maga Socialist

why Maga? because socialism will make america great again

# ? Mar 16, 2020 00:04

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 9, 2024 06:14

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

new campaign video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDYQFPeaS2E

# ? Jul 8, 2020 19:34

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > Kansas man Brian Matlock runs as Republican Socialist for Senate

«‹›2 »