Free Republic

A national tea party group will hold a news conference in Wichita on Monday with U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, but leaders stopped short of saying whether the group plans to endorse the Republican incumbent. “It will be an announcement,” said Taylor Budowich, executive director of the Tea Party Express, a California-based group that describes itself as the nation’s largest tea party political action committee. The news conference, set for 11 a.m. at the Sedgwick County Republican party headquarters in west Wichita, will be attended by Roberts and local tea party leaders and activists, Budowich said. Earlier this year the group...

When U.S. Senator from Texas Ted Cruz ’92 set out on a bus tour last week, kickstarting the campaign for incumbent U.S. Senator from Kansas Pat Roberts, he also set out on a small-scale political battle against Greg Orman ’91, a Senate hopeful with whom Cruz spent three years at the University as an undergraduate. Orman, a businessman and independent candidate, has been accused by the Roberts campaign of being a stealthy democratic candidate. “I’m reminded of another candidate who ran in 2008 who ran on empty promises. He ran on hope and change, and he figured a whole bunch...

Republican Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts said Friday that he thinks the IRS targeting scandal was driven by Valerie Jarrett’s office in the White House, according to information that he saw that Democrats tried to “whitewash.” Roberts told talk radio host Hugh Hewitt that he participated in a Senate Finance Committee investigation into the IRS scandal but “the effort was made by the majority, by the Democrats in the Congress, to simply end that investigation,” which he called a “whitewash.” “I’m convinced that even Valerie Jarrett was involved,” Roberts said.

WATERVILLE, Maine — With three weeks remaining before the critical midterm congressional elections, the character of American politics for the next two years and for the presidential campaign that will begin in earnest next month is unusually uncertain. In fact, the contours of our national civic life are more undefined than they have been since the overtime election of 2000 — a period of ambiguity no one is eager to repeat. So, as the election nears, the American political landscape can be described as a combination of enthusiasm and ennui that defies clear definition. In fact, enthusiasm and ennui are...

Republican Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts said Friday that he thinks the IRS targeting scandal was driven by Valerie Jarrett’s office in the White House, according to information that he saw that Democrats tried to “whitewash.” Roberts told talk radio host Hugh Hewitt that he participated in a Senate Finance Committee investigation into the IRS scandal but “the effort was made by the majority, by the Democrats in the Congress, to simply end that investigation,” which he called a “whitewash.” “I’m convinced that even Valerie Jarrett was involved,” Roberts said. “I think this was White House-driven. I think all of the...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is a tea party stalwart.   Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., narrowly defeated a tea party opponent in the Republican Senate primary this year.   Ted Cruz has a perfect 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union.   Pat Roberts has an 84 percent rating from the ACU.   Yet this week Cruz will be in Kansas campaigning for Roberts in an election that is crucial for GOP hopes of retaking the Senate. The reason is simple. Fox News quotes Cruz explaining, “Roberts stood by my side in the fight to defund Obamacare, and he...

I’m not exactly sure what the reasoning is, here. It’s not because the race isn’t competitive. It is – or, more accurately, it could be. Jeanne Sheehan is ahead of Scott Brown by 6.5 points in the current RCP average, sure. But she’s also under 50% in the aggregate polling, which is the usual rule of thumb for an incumbent in trouble. This is the sort of situation where throwing some advertisting cash into the mix could really come in handy. Of course, it’s a little late for that now – back in May the Democrats blocked out about $1...

WICHITA, Kan. — Tea Party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) waded into the Kansas Senate race Thursday, touting beleaguered Republican incumbent Pat Roberts as the contest’s only true conservative. The conservative hero's support is crucial as Roberts tries to energize his campaign and ward off a challenge from well-funded independent Greg Orman in a race that could jeopardize the GOP's hopes of winning Senate control. Cruz vouched for Roberts despite raising money earlier in the cycle for the Madison Project, a conservative group that supported Roberts’s primary challenger Milton Wolf. Wolf has not yet endorsed Roberts in the general election....

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) has taken the lead in two new polls released on Wednesday as his opponent Greg Orman again endorsed amnesty for illegal immigrants during Wednesday's debate. In a Fox News poll, Roberts leads Orman, the liberal Democrat running as an "independent," by 5 points. Roberts leads Orman by a point in a CNN/ORC poll. Three weeks ago, Orman was leading Roberts by six points. In Wednesday's debate, Roberts accused Orman of supporting amnesty after Orman tried to convince voters that he did not. The Kansas City Star reports that Orman does indeed support "a path to citizenship...

Poll available at link. To summarize the results among likely voters: KS Senate Race: Roberts (R) 49% Orman (I) 48% KS Governor Race: Brownback (R) 49% Davis (D) 49%

Pat Roberts is unpopular and the GOP brand is suffering in Kansas, as Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's big tax cuts led to cuts in state services, not promised jobs. But Kansas is still a deep red state, and the NBC/Marist poll may be an outlier. Washington — Wow – is Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts (R) really trailing independent candidate Greg Orman by 10 points? That’s what an NBC/Marist poll released this weekend shows. The survey has Senator Roberts at 38 percent and Mr. Orman at 48 percent in their unusual Democrat-free contest. State Democratic nominee Chad Taylor withdrew on Sept....

In the race for U.S. Senate in Kansas, independent candidate and businessman Greg Orman leads Republican incumbent Pat Roberts by 10 points among likely voters including those who are undecided yet leaning toward a candidate. Orman’s lead is bolstered by better than a two-to-one lead among independents likely to vote. Voters’ impressions of incumbent Republican Roberts is upside down with nearly half of likely voters viewing him negatively. In contrast, Orman is more positively viewed by likely voters and has lower negatives. Turning to the contest for governor in Kansas, the Republican incumbent, Sam Brownback, faces a tough challenge from...

A new poll out Wednesday from Suffolk University and USA Today confirms something we kind of already knew: Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) is in a remarkable amount of trouble. The poll shows independent Greg Orman leading Roberts 46 percent to 41 percent with Democrat Chad Taylor now off the ballot. It has plenty of bad news for Roberts, but also some reasons to believe his goose isn't cooked just yet. Below, we're recapping three ominous signs for Roberts, and three reasons for hope. (And it all comes with the caveat that one poll shouldn't be taken as gospel.) First, the...

A three-judge panel in Topeka ruled Wednesday that Kansas Democrats need not nominate a candidate for the 2014 Senate race. The ruling is expected to help independent Senate candidate Greg Orman’s campaign against incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. Chad Taylor, the Democrat nominated for the seat in August, dropped from the race Sept. 3. The Kansas Supreme Court later ruled the withdrawal followed state rules. …

Potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush weighed in to a key midterm election race on Monday, telling a Kansas fundraiser for struggling Sen. Pat Roberts that the incumbent must be re-elected so the GOP can take control of the Senate and “fix a few big things” in Washington. […] “This is the most pessimistic America has ever been,” Bush told a $100-a-plate fundraiser, adding that pessimism makes it hard to move forward as a nation. Americans are feeling negative because their son or daughter has graduated for college with student loan debt and cannot find a job, or they...

Republicans are scrambling to save a seat that they thought was in the bag. Republican chances to win control of the Senate in the 2014 midterms, requiring a pickup of six seats, have taken a blow. Kansas, a state no one considered anything other than a safe hold for the party a few months ago, now appears to be slipping away. After a contentious primary resulting in a victory for the 78-year incumbent Pat Roberts over tea party challenger Milton Wolf, things have gone steadily south for Roberts. Wolf refused to close ranks and endorse Roberts. A self-funded independent, 45-year-old...

Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is back in the spotlight for the Republican party as she attempts to help rescue struggling campaigns. This follows a less than stellar appearance by the Palin clan at a party in Alaska a few weeks ago. On Thursday, Palin was in Kansas to throw her support behind U.S. Senator Pat Roberts. The former Alaskan Governor stood next to the 78-year-old Republican Senator, flipping pancakes at a public appearance in front of 250 people at the Independence Historical Museum and Art Center. The appearance was intent on helping bolster the Republican Senator’s numbers and supporters...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin urged Kansas Republicans on Thursday to unite behind U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, alleging his independent opponent is trying to “snooker” voters in what has become a surprisingly close race. Palin, the 2008 vice presidential nominee, donned an apron and flipped pancakes alongside Roberts, once considered a near lock for re-election but now facing a tough battle....

Sarah Palin appears in Kansas Thursday to stump for Sen. Pat Roberts, the most endangered Republican senator. She could be helpful, but there's irony in her pitch.Sarah Palin has come to the rescue. The Republicans’ 2008 vice presidential nominee – and big-time political lightning rod – took the stage Thursday in Kansas on behalf of the state’s endangered Republican senator, Pat Roberts. Three-term Senator Roberts is widely seen as the most vulnerable Republican senator in the November midterms. A loss would seriously harm the Republicans’ chances of retaking the Senate. Enter Ms. Palin. The former Alaska governor’s public favorability has...

Sarah Palin will campaign for incumbent Republican Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) in Independence, Kansas on Thursday. Roberts is in need of help from the Tea Party favorite, as recent polls show he trails independent Greg Orman in this fall's general election. Last week, the Kansas State Supreme Court granted Democratic nominee Chad Taylor's request to be removed from the ballot, setting up a two-person race between Roberts and Orman. Roberts defeated Tea Party challenger Dr. Milton Wolf in the August 5 Republican primary by a relatively narrow margin of 47% to 41% in a bitterly personal contest that left many...