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Seg. 1: DC Lobbyists Help Congress Consider Kansas City Companies. Seg. 2: Ron Elving & Ken Rudin.

K Street in Washington has long been known as a center for the lobbying industry, think tanks and advocacy groups.
Ben Schumin
/
Wikimedia Commons
K Street in Washington has long been known as a center for the lobbying industry, think tanks and advocacy groups.

Segment 1: Are lobbyists the secret to keeping local companies competitive?

Ask a typical voter how they regard lobbyists, and you might get a wrinkled nose and a response suggesting lobbyists represent everything wrong with American politics. But can a case be made that lobbyists actually add value to a political system overrun with people trying to influence elected officials one way or another? As we continue our visit to NPR Headquarters in Washington, we met a pair of lobbyists who troll congressional hallways to get their perspective on what lobbyists actually do.

Segment 2, beginning at 23:05: Political perspectives on the 2018 midterm and beyond.We’re less than a month from a critical set of midterm elections, and then, in an instant, the talk will turn to 2020 and this nation’s next presidential election. We took a look at where Missouri's U.S. Senate race stands, snuck a peek at the Kansas gubernatorial election, and looked ahead at who the Democrats might put up to face Donald Trump (presumably) in 2020.

Copyright 2021 KCUR 89.3. To see more, visit KCUR 89.3.

Steve Kraske is an associate teaching professor of journalism at UMKC, a political columnist for The Kansas City Star and has hosted "Up to Date" since 2002. He worked as the full-time political correspondent for The Star from 1994-2013 covering national, state and local campaigns. He also has covered the statehouses in Topeka and Jefferson City.
Luke X. Martin is an assistant producer for KCUR's Up To Date.