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PPP's latest poll shows Democratic Governor Jay Nixon cruising to victory in his bid for re-election this year. He leads Republican opponent, Dave Spence, 54% to 35%:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...
Nixon also happens to be one of the most popular governors in the country according to this poll. They also found that Senator Roy Blunt (R) has mediocre poll numbers, with 37% of voters approving of him to 36% who disapprove. This is an improvement since the last poll PPP conducted on Roy Blunt's numbers with the voters.
Since Nixon is a well-liked governor, could Nixon be the best choice for Missouri Democrats to unseat Roy Blunt in 2016? Yes, Missouri is deeply red and 2010 was a great year for Republicans but Blunt wasn't very popular a little over a year ago:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...
And Missouri voters weren't crazy about him just a few months after being elected:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...
Blunt's under water because Democrats (73%) are more unified in their dislike of him than Republicans (66%) are in their approval. Independents split slightly against him as well by a 35/37 margin. Blunt seems like someone who would be in a lot of trouble in a neutral or Democratic leaning election cycle but his timing was certainly right last year.
I don't know what 2016 will be like. It could be a neutral year where both Presidential candidates aren't that exciting or interesting like in 2000 where George W. Bush won Missouri but John Ashcroft lost to a dead guy. Then again, if Hilary Clinton runs for President in 2016 and picks Julian Castro as her running mate, 2016 could be another great year for Democrats. Plus if you look at this picture of Roy Blunt, he looks like Ashcroft's more sinister-looking twin:
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Nixon made two failed attempts at running for Senate. First in 1988 against Republican Senator John Danforth and the second in 1998 against Republican Senator Kit Bond. Now that Nixon has way more name recognition from his time as Attorney General and soon-to-be two terms as governor, he could be an a sure winner in 2016. Grant it anything could happen in the next four years and Blunt's approval could greatly approve but it's never too early to start figuring out who would be great candidates to unseat these tea baggers. There are rumors that Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz might go up against Pat Toomey and Alex Sink could be a great candidate against Marco Rubio. Just something to think about. What do you guys think?