Kansas used to be a solid red state. National politicians rarely make campaign stops and there is generally no national news coverage of Kansas races.

Not anymore.

Greg Orman, the independent candidate for U.S. Senate will face off in a debate with incumbent Senator Pat Roberts (R) tonight at 7 p.m. CDT / 5 p.m. PDT on C-SPAN.

Orman has been running on an anti-incumbent platform -- that Washington is broken and filled with partisan, career lawmakers. Roberts has employed a strategy of associating Orman with Harry Reid and President Obama, declaring him to be a liberal Democrat hiding behind an "independent" campaign.

Orman's message seems to be holding up with voters. He maintains a 3-point lead in the most recent polls.

Orman recently capitalized on information that Roberts has missed over two-thirds of the agriculture committee meetings during his lengthy time on the Agricultural Committee -- a mistake that is clearly damaging for a state that depends on agriculture as the base of its economy. Even worse, Roberts missed the recent Ebola hearings on risks to the United States.

All of this supports Orman's platform that career politicians do not have the best interest for the state at heart.

IVN has followed Orman since the earliest days of the his campaign, predicting long before any other national news source that he would be a viable candidate in this election.

Live Internet broadcasting of the debate will be on the C-SPAN website.

Photo Source: AP