In a desperate attempt to gain votes, Keith Christensen announced that he would no longer affiliate with the GOP in an obvious attempt to gain more votes for this Septembers primary. I assume that he came to this conclusion only after it was discovered that money can not actually buy votes regardless of how much you wish they would.

Now if Christensen would have pulled this at the start of the race I would not consider it pandering, rather he would honestly be expressing his new found political views (I look to Michael Bloomberg as a prime example of this). This however is not the case; Christensen sees that he is not gaining traction in the race and is doing all he can to stay competitive.

I am sure that Christensen had no problem claiming that he was a Republican when running for his city council spot. Yet when it looks as though Christensen may not win we see this about face; I would not be surprised that, if Christensen does not win the mayors race, he will embrace his Republican mantra yet again.

The problem is that Christensen was dead in the water before the race ever began. Mayor Anderson’s endorsement was a kiss of death – Republicans hate Mayor Anderson and the average Democrat would never vote for a Republican in a race that they actually think a liberal can win. By dropping his ties to the Grand Old Party Christensen is effectively pandering to voters in order to gain votes.

I applaud Dave Buhler, at the very least he does not try to deny his Republican ties. Sure he deflects away from them by saying that things such as potholes and street lights are not conservative or liberal things, simply city things. He is correct when he says this, the only difference is that funding for things such as youth programs or homeless shelters often are (and we all know how an average Republican or Democrat would act when faced with such decisions).

We will see where this gets Christensen, but I hope that voters will see past this obvious flip-flop. Time will tell.