Thursday, October 25, 2012

Mitt Romney is expected to roll up an easy victory in Republican-leaning Kansas, while Democrats wonder how much worse President Barack Obama's showing will be than it was four years ago.

Kansas has been largely ignored in the presidential race. Both major parties assumed from the outset that the state's six electoral votes will go to GOP nominee Romney.

Obama energized many fellow Democrats four years ago and captured nearly 42 percent of the vote. It was the best result for a Democratic candidate in 20 years.

Since Obama's election, conservative Kansas Republicans have made big strides by playing off the president and the federal health care overhaul that he championed.

The rise of the tea party movement has also helped push the state's politics hard to the right.