Jim Barnett knows a lot of people think he stands little chance of unseating Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, even though he's the Republican nominee in a GOP-leaning state.

The reasoning behind such assessments is that she's not made any serious missteps; the economy has improved; a troublesome education funding lawsuit is over, and there's little, if any, buzz of dissatisfaction among voters.

Also, her campaign raised more than $3 million by late July, allowing Sebelius to have four unchallenged statewide TV ads extolling her virtues since then. Barnett has yet to air his first ad since the primary.

Barnett has questioned repeatedly whether the economy is as rosy as Sebelius suggests and whether the state will be able to afford the plan approved this year to phase in a $541 million increase in aid to public schools over three years to satisfy a Kansas Supreme Court demand to spend more on education.

He's also attacked Sebelius over her support for a 2004 law allowing some illegal immigrants to pay the lower in-state tuition rates reserved at state universities and colleges.

He's accused Sebelius of not showing much as governor, suggesting the 58-year-old incumbent sees a second term as merely a stepping stone to some higher office - perhaps even president. She has received a small measure of national attention, particularly after Time magazine named her one of the nation's five best governors last year.

A reputation for higher ambition hung over Sebelius even during her 1987-94 stint as a legislator and grew during two terms as insurance commissioner that followed. She said during an interview she wants a second term because she loves being governor and sees more work to be done.

"I didn't run for one office to get to another office, unlike - oh - Sen. Barnett," Sebelius said. "I'm happy to have them speculate all they want, but I ran for governor to be governor."

Sebelius' stance that she's not taking the race for granted is a prudent one for a Democrat. The state had about 757,000 registered Republicans, compared to fewer than 437,000 Democrats. The battle, as it was in 2002, is for votes from GOP moderates and like-minded independents.

"He needs to reach out to Republicans who think that the governor has done an acceptable job, and he needs to remind them that there's a reason they are Republicans," said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence.

When legislators approved this year's school finance plan, they didn't pass any revenue-raising measures to support it, counting on a growing economy to generate enough tax dollars to pay for it.

Barnett notes legislative staff has projected a budget shortfall by mid-2009, but Sebelius has been confident that economic growth will prevent it.

The governor said she also wants to pursue initiatives designed to make sure more Kansans have health insurance coverage, and she sees energy as an emerging issue.

"Certainly, the debate about schools, and the uncertainty about resolution and amount of money, leaves everything else a bit as second place," Sebelius said. "The kind of fuel crisis that people are feeling at the pump - the high gas prices - I think make a lot of Kansans much more eager to look at where there are alternative strategies."

Meanwhile, Barnett contends the state's economy is stagnant enough to warrant a round of tax cuts to stimulate it. He prescribes a package of income, estate and business tax cuts.

"Obviously, what we've been doing hasn't been working because Kansas lags behind even our neighboring states," Barnett said. "Why have we not been growing? Well, it's because we're a high-tax state."

But Barnett's electability is perhaps the biggest question facing his campaign. He entered the race after bigger GOP names, most notably Rep. Jerry Moran, declined to run, something that suggested Sebelius' strength to political scientists and activists in both parties.

Not competing with Sebelius in TV ads in August is a problem that also faced the 2002 GOP nominee, Tim Shallenburger. In late October, Shallenburger complained that his criticisms of Sebelius weren't resonating with voters as much as he'd hoped because she'd already established a positive image.

"When you look at the support she has, it comes from all segments of Kansas, including moderate Republicans," said state Democratic Chairman Larry Gates.

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