Senator Pat Roberts sincerely wants to transform perception into reality.

After serving in Washington as a status quo, big-government Republican in some capacity for 47 years, Roberts has made a U-turn this year.  He is being challenged by Milton Wolf, a man I am proud to support, and has completely changed his voting record.  He has taken the “Hatch Effect” to a new level.  Hence, he wants to be perceived as a conservative just long enough to survive the August primary so he can continue serving another six years of pay-for-play.

But his game of perceptions runs a lot deeper than his voting record.  Pat Roberts want to be perceived as the consummate Kansan, yet he doesn’t even live in Kansas, and it’s unclear whether he has ever lived there during his adult life.

While many career D.C. politicians ostensibly live away from their home states indefinitely, they usually make an attempt to maintain a regular residency.  After all, they are so wealthy from working in the public sector; it’s not too difficult to afford at least two homes.  Roberts, on the other hand, clearly does not live in Dodge City, Kansas, the city he cites as his residency for the purpose of voting and running for office.

Pat Roberts has lived in Alexandria, Virginia since 1975.  The only relationship he has with the state is ownership of a rental property in Dodge City and the rights to sleep in the La-Z-Boy chair at the home of a campaign supporter, Duane Ross, which is situated on a golf course.  It was reported that Ross couldn’t remember the last time Roberts slept there.  Remember, this is the residency he lists for his voter registration.

Ever since Roberts attended college and served in the military, he has not lived in Kansas.  He worked as a reporter in Arizona for a few years in the ‘60s before moving to Washington in 1967 to work as a congressional staffer.  He worked for Rep. Keith Sebelius, Kathleen Sebelius’s father-in-law until 1980.  At that point, Sebelius retired and Roberts ran for his seat.  After being away from Kansas for almost two decades, Roberts scrambled to list a vacant lot as his residency in order to qualify to run for office.  A dirt lot is clearly not a residence, but nonetheless, nobody bothered to look into the matter at the time.

Once he was elected to the Senate, Roberts must have been feeling self-conscious about his residency so he changed his listing to a rental property.  During the last two reelection campaigns, he listed that property at 2309-B Fairway Dr, Dodge City, KS 67801 as his primary address.  Last year, as Roberts began shifting his voting habits due to the impending challenge from Milton Wolf, he also changed his residency to that of the golf course La-Z-Boy.

Now that Wolf is challenging Roberts on his eligibility to run for reelection, his campaign is claiming that he can still run because “he has a long history of intending to be a resident of Dodge City.”

It’s particularly jarring that the media is focused on all of the oppo hits put out on conservative candidates, but they have no interest in the fact that a man has represented Kansas for 34 years while never legitimately living in the state, even in a pro forma fashion.

It’s time that we stop being fooled by illusory perceptions communicated by the political elite through their vast war chest from special interests.  It’s time we live in reality and help spread the truth to primary voters.

Sadly, a board of unelected officials ruled that Roberts can remain on the ballot, although it is unclear why Roberts has demonstrated sufficient proof of residency.  They merely said that the challenge lacked “a sufficient basis in law.”

Ironically, the only way to ensure that Roberts truly “intends” to return to Kansas after a 52 years, thereby being eligible to run for reelection, is by forcing him to retire.

Please help Milton Wolf defeat Virginia’s third Senator in Kansas.