In tight Kansas race, football coach says he fumbled endorsement

In politics, sometimes winning a coveted endorsement is a welcome jolt to a campaign. Other times, it’s an unexpected headache.

Sen. Pat Roberts’ campaign encountered the latter scenario this week when a beloved football coach publicly announced his support for the struggling Kansas Republican -- then but quickly seemed to wish he’d announced it a little bit more quietly.

Roberts’ campaign touted the backing from Kansas State University head coach Bill Snyder on Thursday in a news release and a statewide television commercial. The ad features Snyder, sitting and facing the camera, explaining that he has no doubt about who he’ll support.

“My good friend Pat Roberts, of course,” Snyder said. “He is as good as it gets for the state of Kansas.”

The endorsement was just the sort of homegrown support Roberts needs. The three-term incumbent has been batting back the perception that he’s lost touch with Kansas and “gone Washington,” charges that have helped put him in the fight of his political life against independent candidate Greg Orman.

The commercial, however, appears to have caught Snyder – or at least some of his bosses at the university – by surprise. The Kansas City Star reported Kansas State President Kirk Schultz told colleagues via email that Snyder didn’t know the footage he’d taped was “going to be used in such a fashion and was apologetic for the resulting issues.”

Schultz later wrote in a school newsletter that the school does not endorse candidates and reminded school officials not to use their affiliation when they do.

Snyder made a public apology Saturday night, after the Wildcats beat Oklahoma State 48-14. The coach told reporters he’d made a “major mistake,” but declined to explain how exactly.

“I am not going to delve into it, exactly how everything happened, but I made a mistake and embarrassed our university. That is my responsibility,” he said. “That was my error.”

Snyder said he’d like the campaign to take down the ad.

In a statement released Sunday, the Roberts campaign said that wouldn’t be necessary. The ad was scheduled to go down anyway on Sunday, spokesman Corry Bliss said in a statement.

Bliss suggested the campaign was clear about its plans: “The ad was filmed Tuesday at an agreed-upon time and location after Senator Roberts asked for, and received, his longtime friend’s public support,” he said. “Senator Roberts remains honored to have Coach Snyder’s support and … looks forward to cheering the coach and his team on to a Big 12 championship this year.”

The Roberts campaign then quickly changed the subject from its dealings with one revered Kansas figure to Orman’s rip on another. The campaign asked Orman to apologize for suggesting that former Sen. Bob Dole and other GOP lawmakers campaigning by bus for Roberts amounted to a “Washington establishment clown car.”

Twitter: @khennessey