Is the only way Brownback can win is if he nationalizes the race by tying Davis to "Obama liberalism" and "Kansas as a red state"?
Pretty much. That's how the Republicans almost held the senate in 2006. They needed to hold Conrad Burns and he almost won.
Hopefully, if the map is expanded enough, it takes so pressure off of Democrats in Montana, Colorado, New Hampshire and Iowa.
Huh? Davis is running for Governor of Kansas, not Senate. And there's very little "pressure" in NH (or MT since our odds there are so small anyway). And I don't really understand the 2006 comparison. The unpopular President was a Republican as were both houses of Congress so tying Burns to the national Republicans, even in a red state like Montana, wouldn't be a good move for the Republicans.