Roberts Pulls a Lazarus

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., left, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, appear together at a campaign stop in Wichita, Kan., Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. Their event Thursday kicks off a four-day bus tour with stops in 11 communities... Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., left, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, appear together at a campaign stop in Wichita, Kan., Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. Their event Thursday kicks off a four-day bus tour with stops in 11 communities in the eastern half of the state. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner) MORE LESS
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A couple weeks ago I had a very hard time believing that Pat Roberts would really manage to lose his Senate seat in since Kansas is an incredibly Republican state and Roberts is a proxy for Republican control of the Senate. On the other hand, it was equally hard to see how an extremely unpopular incumbent whose poll numbers were stuck in the 30s could find another 15 to 20 points lying around after decades in Congress. But he’s at least made it an even race now. And in a hardcore GOP state that has to make him the favorite. Our Dylan Scott took a close look at how Roberts and especially a crisis team of top national GOP operatives turned the thing around.

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