• Claire McCaskill,  U.S. Senate 2012

    Mo-Sen Video: An Ad Sen Claire McCaskill Won’t Run in 2012

    Claire McCaskill claims that she has “Paid every dime” of her taxes

    Senator Claire McCaskill is just a big HYPOCRITE. And, she won’t be running THIS ad either.

    More than six years ago, Claire McCaskill was embroiled in another fight over the political use of airplanes — except in that case, she was raising the issue against her opponent.

    During the crescendo of her primary challenge to Gov. Bob Holden in July 2004, then-state auditor McCaskill ran an ad showing an airplane circling around the outline of Missouri, slamming the governor for “taking over 300 taxpayer funded trips on the state airplane.”

    According to the Associated Press, McCaskill pointed to news accounts that reported Holden flying to events like the NCAA women’s basketball tournament in St. Louis and to a public speaking specialist in Kansas City as evidence as the “kind of things that make taxpayers raise their eyebrows.”

    “I don’t believe you would see Gov. McCaskill getting on a plane and heading to ball games saying that’s official state business,” said McCaskill spokesman Glenn Campbell at the time.  (McCaskill went on to upend Holden in the primary, but lose to Gov. Matt Blunt in the general election.)

    McCaskill revealed Monday she owed $287,273 in back taxes for her private plane, just days after POLITICO uncovered that the first-term Democrat billed taxpayers for a political trip.

    I say put a fork in McCaskill – She’s Done.

  • Ann Wagner,  Claire McCaskill,  Ed Martin,  Sarah Steelman,  Todd Akin,  U.S. Senate 2012

    MO-Sen GOP Poll Watch: Steelman 31% Akin 24% Martin 9% Wagner 2%

    Sen. Claire McCaskill (top), D-Mo., faces challenges from Republicans (bottom, from left) Ann Wagner, Ed Martin and Sarah Steelman

    According to the lastest PPP Poll.

    Sarah Steelman is the early top choice of Missouri Republicans to be their candidate for the Senate next year, although with most of the candidates including herself largely unknown at this point there is plenty of time for that to change.

    The Poll:

    • Sarah Steelman – 31%
    • Todd Akin – 24%
    • Ed Martin – 9%
    • Ann Wagner – 2%

    Without GOP Rep. Todd Akin in the race:

    • Sarah Steelman – 37%
    • Todd Martin – 18%
    • Ann Wagner – 11%

    But, most Missouri voters don’t really know about these candidates, so take these numbers with a grain of salt.

    We’re not seeing any big ideological fissures yet in these numbers. Steelman leads Akin by 14 points with moderates but she also has a 13 point advantage with those voters describing themselves as ‘very conservative.’ Her lead is narrower with ‘somewhat conservative’ voters who give her only a one point edge on Akin. It’s a similar story when Akin’s out- then Steelman’s up 26 points on Martin with the ‘very conservative’ wing and 24 points with the moderates, but only 9 points with folks who call themselves ‘somewhat conservative.’ For whatever reason she’s doing better with moderates and the far right than the center right.

    It’s too early to make a whole lot of these numbers though given that 56% of voters don’t know enough about Steelman to have formed an opinion and that just rises to 61% for Akin, 75% for Martin, and 81% for Wagner.

    The full poll is here (PDF).

  • Ann Wagner,  Claire McCaskill,  Polling,  Sarah Steelman,  U.S. Senate 2012

    MO-Sen Poll Watch: McCaskill 45% Vs. Steelman 42%

    Looks like a possible GOP pick-up according to the latest PPP poll.

    Job Approval Vs. Disapproval

    • Senator McCaskill 46% Vs. 45%

    Favorable Vs. Unfavorable

    • Todd Akin 20% Vs. 24%
    • Ed Martin 12% Vs. 22%
    • Sarah Steelman 22% Vs. 22%
    • Ann Wagner 8% Vs. 18%

    Heads Up:

    • McCaskill 45% Vs Akin 44%
    • McCaskill 46% Vs. Martin 40%
    • McCaskill 45% Vs. Steelman 42%
    • McCaskill 45% Vs Wagner 36%

    Missouri is the “Show Me” state with which the GOP wishes to recapture the U.S Senate majority. And, it would certainly be sweet to avenge Claire McCaskill’s bruising win six years ago when she shamelessly used Michael J Fox shaking and baking on “stem cell” televison commercials. Remember?

    Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill is certainly vulnerable and is below the magical 50% in job approval.

    PPP’s 2nd poll on the 2012 US Senate race in Missouri finds pretty much the same thing as the first one. Voters are closely divided on Claire McCaskill’s job performance and she polls in the mid-40s against all of her prospective Republican opponents. She does have small leads over them that are largely attributable to their lack of name recognition.

    46% of Missouri voters approve of the job McCaskill is doing to 45% who disapprove. Her reviews are almost completely polarized along party lines with 85% of Democrats happy with the job she’s doing while 80% of Republicans give her poor marks. The thing of greatest concern for McCaskill should be where she stands with independents- just 36% think she’s doing a good job with 51% dissenting.

    Unless the Republicans nominate a nut job as their candidate (which they won’t), this will be a close race leaning toward a GOP pick up.

    The entire poll is here.