In a few days, U.S. Senate Republicans will officially anoint Senator
Jon Kyl of Arizona to replace Trent Lott of Mississippi as minority
whip, the number two post in the Senate GOP leadership. A few Iowans
will recall that Senator Kyl's father, John Kyl (same name, different
spelling) was an Iowa congressman. But in a way, you could argue that
Jon Kyl cost his father his seat in Congress. No, there wasn't some
adolescent scandal in Bloomfield, Iowa. But the story of the Kyl
family is, in microcosm, the story of Iowa's declining political
influence as the American people, including a young Jon Kyl, have
moved south and west.