Jim Slattery raised about $500,000 during the last quarter.  Less than incumbent Pat Roberts, who raised over $850,000.  This is a real race.  More than the token challenge Roberts usually gets.

Senate: 
Pat Roberts (R-Incumbent) votes for all free trade agreements, and
pushed the 1996 inaccurately named "Freedom to Farm" bill that farmers
hate.  He said U.S. farmers would export our way to prosperity if
they just kept the price below break even.  Anyway, he leads Jim
Slattery (D) 48-39%.  The prior 5/13 poll from Rasmussen was
52-40% on May 13.

Any incumbent who polls below 50% is considered potentially vulnerable.  

President:  McCain leads by 10… 47-37% 

Minnesota:  Incumbent Norm Coleman (R) leads Al Franken (D) by three:  48-45%

Oregon:  Incumbent Gordon Smith (R) leads Jeff Merkley (D) by nine: 47-38% 

Kansas:  Incumbent Pat Roberts (R) leads Jim Slattery (D) by 12: 48-36% 

North Carolina:  Incumbent Elizabeth Dole (R) leads Kay Hagen (D) by 14: 53-39% 

Iowa:  Incumbent Tom Harkin (D) leads Christopher Reed (R) by 16: 53-37% 

Michigan:  Incumbent Carl Levin (D) leads Jack Hoogendyk (R) by 20: 55-35% 

This is the only poll
of this race I’m aware of.  Senator Roberts aggressively pushed
U.S. farm policy towards a "free trade" based approach, claiming we
would export our way to prosperity.  His 1996 "Freedom to Farm"
bill was a big giveaway to Cargill, Tyson and ADM.  Too bad his
numbers were astoundingly wrong.  We have lost our ag surplus.
Roberts has never seen a trade agreement he did not like, and probably
has not read one.

Jim Slattery is the challenger.  He was a KS Congressman
until 1994, when he was beaten in the Gingrich revolution.  He is
for trade reform, and for enforcing the rules. 

This is the first serious poll conducted in the race.  Rasmussen is a top tier polling outfit.  The 12 point deficit is surprisingly close.  Slattery
has been out of the public eye for 14 years.  No Democrat has been
elected to the Senate in Kansas since 1932.  So I would expect a
25+ point deficit.