In yet another sign that despite 4 tough years as President Barack Obama remains competitive in purple to red leaning states, we have the latest poll in MO, showing Obama with a 1 point lead, 45-44 over Romney.
Ordinarily, this is not a particularly great poll. The President's approval rating is net negative, and he's in the mid-40's. But this is Missouri: a state with a strong cultural conservative bent that he narrowly lost to McCain in 2008 despite winning nationally by a 7 point margin. If Obama can be competitive now, with some investment, he should be competitive in October/November when it matters.
It seems to reason that Obama and Claire McCaskill should team up, and perhaps both can force the GOP to spend a lot of money in the state. If the economy improves a bit in the coming months, both might be able to win. In fact, I'd probably give Obama a slight edge over McCaskill to win in Missouri.
Missouri is one of those states that Romney has to have, and the attitude of the Obama campaign should be "I want it so bad because he needs it so bad!"
BTW, any national poll that shows Obama with anything less than a 3-4 point lead should probably be viewed with some skepticism given results like this one.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...