By TIM UNRUH

Salina Journal

Running on the hunch that Kansans are ready for another U.S. senator to represent them, Jim Slattery promises an issue-based campaign against incumbent Republican Pat Roberts.

The Topeka Democrat aims to pin some blame on Roberts for Slattery's "big three" issues -- the war in Iraq, fuel prices and the federal budget deficit.

"The people of Kansas are looking for change, and we're going to give them that choice," said Slattery, 59.

The Atchison County native, whose wife, Linda, was reared in Salina, spoke to about 40 people at a public meeting Saturday morning at Martinelli's restaurant, 158 S. Santa Fe.

Slattery served one term in the Kansas House and 12 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving Kansas' Second District. He ran for Kansas governor in 1994 -- losing to Salinan Bill Graves -- and has since worked as a lobbyist with a law firm in Washington, D.C.

Slattery took Roberts to task for his leadership on the Senate Intelligence Committee as the nation prepared for the war in Iraq.

"We went to war based on incorrect intelligence data," Slattery said.

Agreeing that funding for a campaign against such a longtime senator is a challenge, Slattery is asking supporters for "your time, your money and your vote."

But this could be the year to unseat a GOP stalwart, he said.

Slattery said Roberts' power in Washington is "diminished as a result of his performance on the Senate Intelligence Committee."

Roberts should have told Americans "that (Iraq President) Saddam Hussein didn't have anything to do with 9-11," Slattery said.

The United States has slipped from a $250 billion surplus in 2001 to a $350 billion deficit, "and Sen. Roberts has voted for all of this. It's immoral for us to ask our kids to pay all of these bills," Slattery said.

He referred to Roberts as one of the Bush administration's "most loyal troops" from 2001 to 2007.

"I think (Roberts) would like to have some of those votes back, but he should be held accountable," Slattery said.

All the talk about going to war with Iran is pushing up the price of oil, he said, along with a weak dollar that drives up the cost of imports, he said.

"Irresponsible fiscal policy drives down the dollar," Slattery said.

If Congress can force cars to be safer, he wondered why automakers aren't required to produce vehicles that run farther on a gallon of gas.

Reducing dependence on foreign oil and carbon emissions are a "two-fer" that can help the economy by strengthening the dollar and improving the environment, he said.

Slattery predicts there will be more electric cars on the road in the future, increasing the need for electricity. He advocates different ways to make power, including wind, solar, nuclear and "finding a way for coal to burn cleaner."

That comment brought a complaint from Salina City Commissioner Abner Perney.

"Never say those words. It's dirty old coal and there's no solution to that other than sun and wind," Perney said.

Slattery said that he understood the comment.

Roberts has spent time focusing on Slattery's lobbying efforts while working for a Washington law firm, dealing in trade issues.

"I never represented any client ... whose cause I didn't believe was in the public interest," Slattery said. He promised to pursue bipartisan solutions in the Senate.

"You can't run this country from the left ditch or the right ditch. You have to run it right down the middle of the road," Slattery said.

Slattery said he will have plenty of ammunition pointing to Roberts' long voting record during debates, assuming he prevails in the August Democratic primary against Overland Park railroad engineer, Lee Jones.

"(Roberts) never had an opponent in his life who's run a competitive race. He's in for one this year," Slattery said.

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.