In one of the most surprising races of the midterms, Greg Orman, a wealthy businessman running as an independent, has given Republican Sen. Pat Roberts a run for his money in the Senate race i n Kansas.
Yet Orman—who made his fortune in a diverse slew of investment ventures, including spinal-surgery screws—hasn't clearly defined himself, up to answering the increasingly important question of whether he'd caucus with Democrats or Republicans if he went to Washington. He has said he'd caucus with whichever party holds the majority, but if no clear majority emerges in the chamber, his vote could swing the balance.
But he's dodged questions about what he would do in that situation. He's vowed to change Washington, but hasn't expounded on how. Playing both sides of the fence on the Affordable Care Act, he has said he would've voted against the legislation while vacillating on whether he'd work to repeal it. And his stance on the Keystone XL Pipeline is undetermined: He's said he doesn't have enough information to decide either way.
Surprisingly, Orman's ambivalence hasn't hurt him—the latest polls show Kansans may be prepared to take a gamble on the newcomer rather than endure a fourth Roberts term. According to a CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday, the candidates are neck and neck, with Roberts at 49 percent to Orman's 48 percent. In a survey with a 3.5 percentage point margin of error, the two are statistically tied.