Dispatches from the Sunflower State

Howdy folks! While Josh and George keep you up-to-date on the goings on in Austin, I'm writing to you today from Lawrence, Kansas. While I am here for decidedly unpolitical reasons, I don't think that someone who is fascinated with Texas politics can avoid being fascinated with Kansas politics. While Kansas is thought of as a deeply red state, it has a female Democratic Governor (Kathleen Sebelius) and two of Kansas' four seats in the House of Representatives are held by Democrats Nancy Boyda and Dennis Moore.

A poll discussed earlier today on Daily Kos that was commissioned by Kos shows some unsettling news for senior Kansas Senator Pat Roberts. He clocks in with right around 50% while Democratic challenger Jim Slattery comes in with 38% of the vote. Normally you might say "gee, Patrick, that doesn't sound like much to talk about", but this isn't normal. Roberts has been in Washington for decades and is going to catch major heat for the intelligence report he sat on for four years. With Roberts' name ID and experience, he's only pulling 50%; Slattery is a relative newcomer to the race and has only been raising money and running since the middle of March.

If the best Kansas' senior Senator can muster is 50%, that's not strong incumbent territory.