Since Daily Kos has started the Election Race Daily Roundup, I have not seen one about the contest between Claire McCaskill vs. Jim Talent.
Since I live in the state of Misery, I have an obligation to shed some light on the dynamics in play in the state, and hopefully generate some attention to what I consider the most crucial contest this election year. I hope to make this a series of diaries, because the dynamics are as diverse as the population. We shall see, we shall see...
(Yes, the state is in Misery since the Republicans took over. That's why they say Missoo-ruh; to deflect criticism of the Misery they've brought! Zing!)
But enough of this gay banter. Let's go the flip...
First, let's get an update on the numbers. I yanked this from the comments of fellow Kossack
Gottschee for the latest campaign update:
NYT has Talent over Claire 50-44 among likely voters, tied among registered voters. Talent ads are all over the radio and TV across the state. Giant yard signs are common, and billboards punctuate I-70 between St. Louis and Kansas City. No doubt about it, Talent's spending his war chest. Bush comes to KC on the 8th to add more bucks. For all of his spending, Talent hasn't been able to nudge the numbers much.
-snip-
Meanwhile, Claire is off the radar, at least here in KC. Haven't seen a yard sign yet anywhere in Kansas City, nor any ads. I'm told she's running radio ads in "Ashcroftland" in southern MO. Southern Missouri is as conservative as you can get. Local politicos are starting to question the wisdom of her ad buys and her campaigning in rural areas. We'll see. Talent won his Senate seat against Jean Carnahan by little more than 20,000 votes in 02. Question: can Claire find 20,000 votes south of the Missouri River? I hope so.
In July, The DSCC gave Claire some $600,000. That's good. But's she's gonna need more than that. And she needs to start campaigning on something other than stem-cell research and health care, because that's not going to budge enough people to put her over Talent.
It's Iraq and chickenhawk Talent cheerleading all the way until things got rough. Now he distances himself from his president and party. He's a flip-flopper. Claire, its time to call him out. The election in Missouri is about whether Missourians want an independent voice, or just another rubber-stamp Republican. You can win on that.
Now, I agree with most of this, especially the flip flopper, chickenhawk and calling Talent out remarks. However, I think Claire has the right strategy in outstate Missouri. The McCaskill campaign has taken the DNC 50 State strategy and applied it to the red counties throughout Misery, something that Democrats have neglected to do for at least a decade. Also, a Democrat from "Ashcroftland" (nee Springfield, the heart of Minority Whip Roy Blunt's district) was elected to the state house in 2004. Also, I have had the opportunity to see and analyze the numbers from the past few cycles. There are very few counties that have Democrats under 40%, even in so-called strongholds like St. Charles county. To summarize, Missouri is the quintessential 50-50 state. Republicans want you to believe that it's in the "red" category, but that is simply not true. We are, and will continue to be, a bellwether state.
Which is a damn good reaon to
contribute, right there. I mean, if you're going to run a strategy like that, it's going to be cost prohibitive. We're not the biggest state, but it's still a logistical nightmare. But I digress...
Missouri is really a micrososm of the nation at large, and Missouri goes as the nations' mood goes. If you look at the demographics of our state, you will see remarkable similarities to national demographic trends with few exceptions (such as a small hispanic community and higher union density). The percentage of virtually every other demographic group is almost parallel to the national numbers.
Now, let's get to the race. As we've seen already, McCaskill and Talent are in a dead heat.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported today that Talent has pulled within a point in the latest polling. I'm not surprised, considering he's spent so much money on television framing himself as a "non-partisan".
Nothing could be further from the truth, folks. However, his political skill has been to cultivate the "Mr. Mild" persona while voting for the most extreme right wing legislation without question.
Jim Talent would be great as the Wolf prentending to be Grandma in a screen apaptation of "Little Red Riding Hood". He's your typical christian conservative/corporate lapdog who has been in lockstep with the President 94% of the time, especially when it comes to Iraq and the (failed) War on Terror.
So, that's our incumbent Senator. Now, let's move on to his worthy opponent, Claire McCaskill.
I like Claire because she is a tough, no nonsnese woman who knows how to run an effective campaign. I've met with her, argued with her, and even
opposed her during her gubernatorial campaign in 2004. I don't agree with her on more than a few issues, but I do respect her record and veracity. She has the right attitude that I think Kossacks admire, even if you don't agree with her on every issue.
Reminds me of my boy Howard Dean in that respect.
Secondly, she has done an exemplary job as our state auditor. And I mean that. However, I'll let the campaign
toot their own horn on this one:
Now in her second-term with nearly eight years in office, McCaskill has a long list of groundbreaking audits. And the media still laud her continued efforts: "McCaskill has been a fireball of a state auditor," The Kansas City Star wrote in 2004, while the St. Joseph News-Press said her unrelenting audit probes on all agencies -- even the sacred cows -- proved she is "fiercely independent."
McCaskill received the Missouri Press Association's Sunshine Award for auditing all levels of government on how well they followed Missouri's open records law when asked for access to public information. She also received the State Employment Advocate Award for her commitment to hiring and retaining minorities in an office that previously lacked diversity.
Her audits have exposed faults in employee background checks for workers helping vulnerable people, including nursing home caregivers and school bus drivers. She's found millions in uncollected child support and dangerous holes in the state-run child abuse hotline. And she's repeatedly advocated ways to save millions in the Medicaid program. Such savings keep people covered by Medicaid, but lower their medicine costs and make Medicaid run more efficiently.
McCaskill was the first State Auditor to aggressively crack down on local governments that were setting tax rates above limits set by law. Her efforts led to legal action by the state on behalf of Missouri taxpayers.
Now, that's a state auditor is
supposed to do. She's also served as a County Prosecutor of a large Metropolitian county (Jackson, part of the Kansas City area) and as a state legislator.
She knows what she's doing. I say that because the Republicans have already trotted out the "lack of federal Government experience" bullshit in an attempt at
nuanced sexism.
And the heat is about to bring this one to a boil. Claire has of course gotten behind our state's minimum wage initiative, and of course the debate in Missouri about stem cell research has already
gained national attention (video link). This race will see more national attention on Meet the Press on October 8th.
Claire obviouly needs to stay on the air and be able to counter the ads Talent has been bombarding the state with. She literally needs 10 more votes in every precinct. That's how close Missouri is. That's how close control of the US Senate may be. A mere 10 votes in each voting precinct of Missouri. Ten mule-headed voters (Our state mascot is an ass, after all).
Claire needs your help, your
support, your
contributions, and your
voices.
(Oh and for fun, here's
Jim Talent's blog, just to mess with him if you want. You'll find he's truly a mealy-mouthed little flip-flopper who will say anything to get elected)
(UPDATE: Of course, I go back to Talent' blog to harass him, and in the typical Republican fashion, only
supporters can post comments. How very Rovian of him...)
I've said it before and I'll say it again: As Missouri goes, so goes the nation. Help Claire be the lynchpin that give the Democrats the Senate.
That's all I got for now, although there's plenty more to talk about. But, we'll save that for future diaries...