A Rasmussen Research poll concluded this week that Democratic state Auditor Claire McCaskill leads Republican incumbent Jim Talent in their predicted battle for his U.S. Senate seat.
McCaskill trails in the raise for money, but leads in the poll 46 percent to 43 percent.
The results are reported in today’s Washington Post in Chris Cillizza’s online “The Fix” column.
He said “he remains skeptical of Rasmussen’s automated-dialing methodology (as opposed to employing human callers), but what the survey shows is that the race is probably closer than Republicans are prepared to concede.”
Talent finds himself on the outside of powerful members of the Missouri Republican Party who are backing a state referendum to protect stem cell research in the state and keep it legal. He also is among few office holders who have not returned campaign donations from lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Abramoff pleaded guilty this week to a myriad of corruption and tax evasion charges and will be a key federal witness in continuing investigations.
Cillizzia says McCaskill still has an uphill climb, writing, “Talent has committed no fireable offenses since beating Sen. Jean Carnahan (D) in 2004, and given his campaign skills he doesn’t seem likely to make a major gaffe. McCaskill needs a Democratic wind at her back to knock off Talent in this increasingly red state.”
“Babyface” marriage is officially ending