Claire McCaskill,  Polling,  Sarah Steelman,  Todd Akin

MO-Sen: McCaskill 43% Vs. Steelman 42%, McCaskill 45% Vs. Akin 43%

According to the latest PPP Poll.

Claire McCaskill’s approval rating has slipped a hair since PPP last polled Missouri in May, but she retains similarly slim leads over her two most likely opponents for a second Senate term, and both are still pretty unknown to voters.

43% approve of McCaskill’s work in Washington, down from 46% four months ago. The same 47% disapprove. Among the 87 senators on which PPP has polled, only one of the 23 Democrats on the ballot next year has a worse standing—Nebraska’s Ben Nelson.

But for now at least, McCaskill leads three Republicans running to replace her. She tops former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, 43-42, down from 45-42 in the previous poll. McCaskill also edges Rep. Todd Akin, 45-43, versus 46-45 in May. And she leads businessman John Brunner, 46-37, up from 47-41.

McCaskill benefits from the anonymity of these Republicans vying for the nomination. Three-quarters have no opinion of Brunner, and over half are not familiar with the other two. None of them is seen positively by voters either. Steelman is best off, with 23% seeing her favorably and 25% unfavorably, followed by Akin’s 18-26 and Brunner’s 7-19.

Senator Claire McCaskill is in trouble. American Crossroads (Karl Rove’s Super PAC) is already hitting her hard with ads and a website.

How about this billboard:

The Republican Party should pick up this seat in 2012.