Leading Off:
• KS-Sen, Gov: PPP returns to the Sunflower State and finds both races closer than a month ago. In the U.S. Senate contest, they find independent Greg Orman leading Republican Sen. Pat Roberts 44-41. With this poll included, Huffpost Pollster’s average for this race is 44-43 Roberts, but the numbers for this contest have been all over the map recently. Since Oct. 1 we’ve seen everything from a 10-point Orman lead (Marist) to a 5-point Roberts’ edge (FOX).
PPP’s last poll from mid-September found Orman up by a gigantic 46-36. That poll was taken before the ad war really began and Roberts and his allies began portraying Orman as a secret Democrat. Since then Republicans have begun coming home to Roberts: They support him 62-25, still not great but better for him than his 57-31 margin in September. Orman is far better known than he was a month ago, but that’s not a good thing. Orman’s favorable rating went from 39-19 to 42-38, and it looks like most of the people who have learned about him have not heard good things. Roberts’ approval rating is still bad but it has moved up a bit, going from 29-46 in September to 37-47 now.
One thing hasn’t changed though: Roberts remains his own worst enemy. The Wichita Eagle reports the senator can’t even pay taxes on his non-Kansas home properly. The paper tells us that Roberts has been late with payments in four of the past six years, including this year. The best part, though, is that after the Eagle called him up for this story, Roberts claimed he’d sent his check in on time—but then went online and paid electronically anyway, plus the late fee. Could someone please tell me why it’s apparently so incredibly hard for politicians to pay their property taxes?
Speaking of politicians who have gotten into trouble over taxes, PPP also checks in on the gubernatorial race. Head below the fold for more.
