"We're not getting any immigration policy as long as Harry Reid is the leader of the Senate," Roberts declared, before again knocking his opponent as a supporter of "amnesty."
Both candidates agreed on the need to secure the border and that the president should not take executive action to change policy unilaterally.
Orman owns guns, and Roberts doesn't.
Roberts touted his endorsement by the National Rifle Association but said he hadn't owned a gun since his time in the Marines. He looped his support for the Second Amendment in with support for the First Amendment, suggesting Orman's disapproval of the Citizens United decision was proof he couldn't be trusted to uphold the constitution in either capacity. Roberts tried throughout the night to tie his opponent to unpopular parts of the Democratic agenda, but this one was one of his rougher transitions.
Orman said he's a current gun owner who believes all gun owners should go through the same background check he did. He advocated for closing the gun-show loophole, saying it would keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
"Those are people I don't want owning guns," Orman said.
Roberts sounded his strongest talking foreign affairs.
Both men were asked whether the agreed with the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Orman said yes to both, but that the U.S. had been "overly optimistic" about creating a democracy in Afghanistan.
Roberts, a Marine veteran, blamed poor leadership by Obama for "creating a vacuum" in Iraq when he removed troops. He expressed concern for a similar situation in Afghanistan. He disputed the president's assessment that the U.S. is winning a war against ISIS, and grew impassioned about the need to bring these decisions to Congress and the American people. Though Roberts framed the problems as a weakness on the part of President Obama, it's one area where he looked away from Orman in his response and didn't immediately loop the businessman in with the White House.
Orman is pro-choice.
Asked about whether an ultrasound should be required of women seeking an abortion, Orman clarified that he supports abortion rights, though he walked around the issue a bit at first. He said that, as a man, he would never have to face the challenge of such a decision, and that he hoped the country could "get past" abortion to focus on bigger problems.
"Get past this issue? Get past the rights of the unborn?" Roberts fired back. "I don't think you can say that with any degree of conscious." He argued that the Supreme Court's recent Hobby Lobby decision was reason enough to keep the conversation going.
Roberts is very proud of his endorsements.
Despite hearty debates on job creation and farm policy, Roberts claimed that his endorsements by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Farm Bureau, and other state agriculture groups had ended the argument on who was better qualified to serve the needs of Kansas's major industries. He also name-dropped Right to Life groups and the National Rifle Association as backers, touting his near-perfect records on their voting score cards.
For his part, Orman sounded comfortable talking about agriculture issues, and was his most confident defending his ability to create middle-class jobs. "There a number of chambers in this state that would love to see me elected to the U.S. Senate," he argued. Orman did not, however, mention his recent endorsement by the AFL-CIO.