Appearing on a Kansas City local radio talk show on KCMO Thursday morning, Senator Pat Roberts made a verbal gaffe that plays right into his primary opponent’s main talking point against him.

Reports show that Roberts spends very little time his home state of Kansas – less than 100 days using official funds over the course of two years, an issue his opponent, radiologist, Dr. Milton Wolfe has capitalized on.

“After 47 years in Washington, it’s clear that Kansas is a distant memory for Pat Roberts,” Wolf said back in May. “How else do you explain Roberts wanting to spend his time anywhere but Kansas? Maybe if he still lived here he’d actually want to return here. “

When KCMO talk show Greg Knapp asked Roberts about the residency issue, Roberts answered that his performance shouldn’t be measured on where he lives.

“I don’t measure my competency or my record or the results – and I do get results – on where I put my head on a pillow,” he said.
But pressed about listener concerns that Roberts does not actually live in the state, the Senator faltered badly. “Every time I get an opponent, uh, I mean every time I get a chance I’m home,” Roberts said.

In another misstep, today, the Roberts’ camp retweeted a race baiter who slimed Milton Wolfe by saying Roberts should not have to debate “a racist and a fool”. The campaign  deleted the retweet after one minute, but the damage was already done –  Twitchy has the screenshot.

Roberts has been dodging a one-on-one debate with Wolf, playing it safe and relying on his name recognition to get him past the primary finish line. Currently, Roberts is leading Wolfe in the polls, 49% to 23%, but that same poll shows Roberts’ approval rating at a meager 29%. 

Polls also had Eric Cantor with an unbeatable lead in Virginia leading up to Election Day, and we all know how that turned out.

The Kansas primary is Aug. 5.