2014 KS Senate debate: on Principles & Values

Randall Batson: Libertarian offers third choice between Orman and Roberts

Greg Orman: I've tried both parties and didn't like either

But the businessman, dressed in blue jeans and a tailored blazer, wasn't fazed. Orman took every chance to call Washington broken and point out the long tenure of Roberts there.

Orman repeatedly said he tried both parties and didn't like either. But Roberts wasn't buying it. He pushed for Orman to better define who he would side with in the Senate, asking if he was going to be a Republican one day and a Democrat the next.

Chad Taylor: Separation of church and state isn't a relevant issue

A: Chad is a Catholic; but the issue of separation of church and state has not arisen in our discussions across the state during this campaign.

Milton Wolf: OpEd: Tea Party "wolfpack" support; but no apology for X-ray

Wolf offered a non-apology apology for the X-ray postings, saying in the interview he was sorry "if I offended anybody." Critics, he said, seized upon a "few" comments "they didn't particularly like."

Still, Wolf points to what he calls his growing network of volunteers--or "wolfpack," as he calls it--and the roughly 75,000 voters with whom he says it has made contact as evidence that he's still in the hunt.

Pat Roberts: Group ratings more conservative in 2014 than in 2012

[His primary opponent Milton] Wolf accuses Roberts of "posing" like a conservative to save his job. "He does whatever Ted Cruz does," Wolf said. Yet as ripe as the conditions here are for a tea party upset--an entrenched GOP incumbent in a reddening state--Wolf has failed to capitalize. The 43-year-old radiologist has been hobbled by a February report in the Topeka Capital-Journal that he had posted X-ray images of gunshot victims on his Facebook page along with macabre humor.

Pat Roberts: Returns home to Kansas "every time I get an opponent"

In an interview with KCMO radio, Roberts was asked about reports that he no longer lives in his home in Kansas and instead rents a room from donors when he returns to the state. That and further reports outlining his relatively infrequent visits home have dogged him; his primary [opponent] Milton Wolf hammers him as out-of-touch with his state.

Roberts said his performance shouldn't be measured on where he lives. "I don't measure my competency or my record or the results--and I do get results--on where I put my head on a pillow," he said.

But pressed on the residency issue, Roberts backed himself into a gaffe. "Every time I get an opponent--I mean, every time I get a chance, I'm home. I don't measure my, what, my record with regards as a senator as how many times I sleep wherever it is," he said.

Milton Wolf: Judeo-Christian values established our government framework

Wolf: Strongly Disagree.

Question topic: Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which permitted our system of limited government.

Wolf: Strongly Agree

Question topic: Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.

Wolf: I am born-again Christian, humbled to stand in the presence of God and proud to call myself His son.

Greg Orman: Fiscally conservative, socially tolerant independent

"The expectation in Kansas is that candidates run under a party label," Orman said. He continued to say that this expectation does not line up with a new Gallup poll showing that 42 percent of Americans consider themselves independent voters. He was once hopeful that a two-party system could find solutions, but it has become clear that neither party represents the values that average Americans share.

Orman describes himself as a fiscally conservative, socially tolerant candidate--and too often voters with mixed politics cannot find a home within either party. Plenty of research has shown that the average American's political opinion is a blend of conservative and liberal ideals. Are people resistant to the idea of a blend of politics?

"There is definitely a strong psychological connection to party affiliations," Orman said.

Greg Orman: We're sending the worst of both parties to Washington

"Washington is broken," he said, "and we're sending the worst of both parties to Washington--people who are bitter partisans who seem to care more about pleasing the extremists in their own party and the special interests than they do in solving problems."

He said Roberts is part of the problem. "He's taken a sharp turn to the right recently and ultimately I don't think he's representing the best interests of Kansas," Orman said. Orman, a 1991 graduate of Princeton University, briefly ran against Roberts in 2008 as a Democrat before dropping out of the race.

Greg Orman: 2010 Common Sense Coalition: give voice to sensible center

Orman said elected leaders of both parties are focused more on getting re-elected than solving problems. "I tried to work within the system but ultimately decided the only real way to make a difference is to challenge it," he said.

Greg Orman: I consider myself fiscally conservative & socially tolerant

"I consider myself fiscally conservative and socially tolerant," Orman said. For about 13 of the last 14 years, Orman said, he has been registered as unaffiliated. He has supported Republicans and Democrats, but he's contributed more to independent causes, he said. He declined to reveal how he voted in the 2012 presidential race between Democrat President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, saying he believed in the sanctity of the ballot.

In 2007, Orman prepared to run as a Democrat against Roberts. "I just didn't feel comfortable running with a party label," he said, and he soon withdrew from the race.

Milton Wolf: AdWatch: Roberts doesn't live in Kansas anymore

In recent weeks, the Wolf campaign raised questions about the frequency Roberts returned to his Kansas residence in Dodge City. Wolf repeatedly questioned Roberts' residency status and referred to him as a U.S. senator from Virginia.

Milton Wolf: Career politicians are changed by Washington

"I think career politicians are changed by Washington," said Milton Wolf, Roberts's opponent, who is a radiologist and a second cousin of President Obama on the president's maternal side.

Given the changing political climate, Gov. Brownback, [a conservative who served alongside Roberts in the Senate], says that Roberts is doing precisely what he needs to do to win another term. "Being active, being aggressive, being conservative," the governor said. "He's got to get through a Republican primary, and people are pretty fired up about what's going on at the federal level."

Pat Roberts: Resides in Virginia but votes in Kansas

Roberts acknowledged that he did not have a home of his own in Kansas. The house on a Dodge City country club golf course that he lists as his voting address belongs to two longtime supporters and donors--C. Duane and Phyllis Ross--and he says he stays with them when he is in the area. He established his voting address there the day before his challenger, Milton Wolf, announced his candidacy, arguing that Roberts was out of touch with his High Plains roots.

"I have full access to the recliner," the senator joked. Turning serious, he added, "Nobody knows the state better than I do." That assertion is disputed by Tea Party activists.

Milton Wolf: Obama is my cousin, but I oppose ObamaCare

[-- Milton R. Wolf, M.D., is a diagnostic radiologist, medial director and cousin of President Barack Obama. He is the author of "First, Do No Harm" (Broadside Books "Voices of the Tea Party" series).]