The second presidential debate was not one for the conflict-averse. President Obama was awake and aggressive this time, likely regaining some of the campaign momentum he lost in his first debate against Mitt Romney. But the GOP nominee came on strong anytime he listed the nation’s economic woes and laid them at Obama’s door. Both men had some trouble with the facts. Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza named the president, the questions and partisans among the winners and Romney, bickering about the rules, and undecided voters among the losers. “The argumentative tone from both candidates is the sort of stuff undecideds and independents voters don’t like a bit – and affirms for them why politics is broken,” Cillizza wrote.
On the same day last week that Americans for Prosperity hosted a rally in Wichita for its “Obama’s Failing Agenda” bus tour, a group called Patriot Majority USA made its own bus stop in Topeka. The group opposes policies pushed by Charles and David Koch, who back AFP, and delivered a letter Friday to Gov. Sam Brownback’s office urging him to denounce the “greed agenda.” “It’s not too late to change course – to work for a vision that benefits Kansans instead of draining it in favor of a few,” the letter said. AFP says the purpose of its coast-to-coast bus tour is to “educate Americans about President Obama and his failing agenda and to put grassroots pressure on him.”
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has the highest estimated wealth of the members of the Kansas delegation, though it is much lower than that of most U.S. senators. Roberts had a personal wealth of about $845,000 in 2010, according to Washington Post estimates based on financial disclosure forms. That estimate was down 53 percent from 2004 and significantly less than the $2.6 million median wealth of all U.S. senators. The estimated wealth of the other delegation members was $768,000 for Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; $510,000 for Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka; $287,000 for Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler; $268,000 for Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita; and negative $92,000 for Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Overland Park.
The second presidential debate was not one for the conflict-averse. President Obama was awake and aggressive this time, likely regaining some of the campaign momentum he lost in his first debate against Mitt Romney. But the GOP nominee came on strong anytime he listed the nation’s economic woes and laid them at Obama’s door. Both men had some trouble with the facts. Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza named the president, the questions and partisans among the winners and Romney, bickering about the rules, and undecided voters among the losers. “The argumentative tone from both candidates is the sort of stuff undecideds and independents voters don’t like a bit – and affirms for them why politics is broken,” Cillizza wrote.
