Kansas ex-Rep. Slattery looks to shock veteran Sen. Roberts

Former Rep. Jim Slattery (D-Kan.) thinks he can use the “change” theme of this election cycle to upset a Kansas tradition, becoming the first Democratic senator from the state since 1932.

Slattery, who is making his return to politics since losing a 1994 gubernatorial run, told The Hill that national dissatisfaction with Washington Republicans and White House policies makes him a legitimate contender against longtime incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts (R).

A recent poll indicates he might be at least in a position to give Roberts a run for his money.

{mosads}A mid-May Rasmussen poll showed Slattery trailing Roberts 52-40, with the two men tied among moderates.

Slattery, who served in the House from 1983 to 1995, said that and other polling data was the reason Roberts’s reelection campaign spent $50,000 on “negative” radio advertising before he even entered the race.

Slattery made it clear that he intends to focus much of his campaign on Roberts’s role in the run-up to the Iraq war, the continued American presence there and the growing federal debt.

“The incompetence of the federal government over the last few years has just been breathtaking,” Slattery said.

The odds appear tall, though — if Slattery were to give Roberts a run for his money, it would be the first time during Roberts’s 28 years in Congress that he has faced a close race. In eight House races and two Senate races, he has never taken less than 62 percent of the vote.

The Roberts campaign, however, does not seem as concerned, given Slattery’s congressional record and time he has spent working as a lobbyist.

Ashley McManus, a Roberts spokeswoman, said Slattery’s criticism of the war is “a bizarre thing for Jim Slattery to say, given that when he was in Congress he voted for us to go to war with Iraq [in Operation Desert Storm].

“After he stopped working for Kansas and this issue resurfaced, he was lobbying for a living and nowhere to be heard from,” McManus said. “Maybe he was for it before he was against it.”

But Slattery insists Kansas voters have come to oppose the war, and he will do well with both independent voters and “disaffected Republicans” who feel that Roberts “has betrayed their values.

The former congressman also says he has nothing to hide from his lobbying days, even though he acknowledged that his polling shows “that being a lobbyist — some people are concerned about that. But what they’re more concerned about is who you lobbied for, what kind of lobbying you were doing.

“I am delighted to accept personal responsibility for every client that I have worked on,” Slattery said. “I’ve never worked on a client matter that I did not believe in. I’ve never asked any elected official or any government official to do anything that I didn’t think was in the public interest.”

Slattery released a list of organizations he lobbied for to The Kansas City Star. Some of the companies include: Amazon.com, General Motors, Verizon Wireless and the Wheat Gluten Industry Council.

Slattery said he didn’t rule out a return to politics after badly losing his gubernatorial race, by nearly 30 points to Republican Bill Graves. GOPers concede 1994 was a strong year for the party nationwide, but they say Slattery’s showing still speaks to his lack of statewide appeal.

The Roberts campaign made it clear that it will try to make Slattery’s career after politics an issue.

“We look forward to a campaign based on the issues and the differences between Pat Roberts’s tireless service to Kansas and Jim Slattery, who stopped working for Kansas so he could enrich himself working for special interests,” McManus said.

Kansas has long been seen as a red state with a long tradition of electing conservatives like Roberts and Sen. Sam Brownback (R).

But Slattery and others point to recent elections where Democrats have made gains, including the 2006 elections of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Reps. Nancy Boyda and Dennis Moore.

“Kansas has gone through some … changes,” Slattery said. “Kansas needs a good Senate race.”

At least one Kansas Republican consultant remains skeptical.

Aaron Trost said that while the political environment continues to be treacherous for Republicans, he views Slattery as facing an insurmountable climb.

“I think that in today’s political environment, every incumbent needs to take their race seriously,” Trost said. “But I think Jim Slattery is a very flawed candidate, because of his lobbyist background. I think people are going to view Slattery as part of the problem and not as a fresh face or an outsider.”

Despite that analysis, Trost said he thinks Slattery can be “formidable.”

“I’m sure he’ll be able to raise some money, and I’m sure that the senatorial committee will come in and spend some money too, because they’re definitely raising a lot, but I think Pat Roberts is very well-respected throughout Kansas, both in the eastern and western part of the state. And when the ads start coming up, I think that Pat Roberts will probably pull away,” Trost said.

Slattery acknowledged that he faces a “David versus Goliath” kind of race, but he warned The Hill that he could be this election’s upset special.

“I just want you guys to know that this is a race worth watching,” Slattery said.