With Some Kander

Just finished watching Jason Kander on All In with Chris Hayes. I had no idea that he was running for mayor of Kansas City. Good for him. Good for them.   

In fairness, I'm not alone in being caught by surprise by the story, since he announced less than two weeks ago -- and the then-frontrunner Jolie Justus immediate dropped out of the race and decided instead to run for re-election to her city council seat.  That's how good and high-profile his.  His biggest challenge will likely be to convince voters of Kansas City that he's interested in being their mayor and not using it as a stop-gap until he can run for the Senate again in 2022, or perhaps on the national ticket in 2020, where he's been mentioned as a vice-presidential possibility.  But he's a good enough candidate to know the challenges, and I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten into the race without knowing the answers.  Besides, I suspect the senate race is far more likely and that's four years away.

I've written about Kander in the past, notably here and here when the former Missouri Secretary of State and Aghanistan combat veteran ran for the U.S. Senate in in 2016 and came close to unseating the incumbent conservative Republican Roy Blunt.  I do so because I admire his career and politics -- but mainly because he's the nephew to my longtime friend from Camp Nebagamon days and here in Los Angeles, John Kander II (nephew to the Broadway composer of Cabaret, Chicago and song "New York, New York").  Hey, I have my priorities...