Steelman vs. Talent?From Eric Dondero:
Former US Senator Jim Talent is angling behind the scenes for the GOP nomination to take on vulnerable Democrat incumbent Claire McCaskill. But a fresh new face is emerging, and she's got Tea Party pedigree.
From The Hotline:
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Cornyn (R-Texas) reached out to former Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman (R) about a Senate campaign before Thanksgiving, according to an NRSC source. In addition to encouraging her to run, Cornyn assured Steelman that the NRSC would stay neutral in a Republican primary between her and Talent.Steelman served as MO State Treasurer, and later ran briefly for Governor.
The Cornyn-Steelman conversation is indicative of a few things. First, it shows that national Republicans aren't completely on board with Talent being their nominee. If the anti-Washington mood carries through to 2012, Talent's work as a lobbyist since leaving the Senate won't help him. Second, the NRSC is showing a newfound interest in Steelman, a Tea Party favorite, who it shunned last year in favor of Roy Blunt. Steelman, who one GOP strategist called "Sarah Palin with an economics degree," could also neutralize Sen. Claire McCaskill's advantage winning over women voters.
4 comments:
To say the least, I'm suspicious of John Cornyn. He's shown himself to be a meddler during the course of this year's elections.
I still hope he gets defeated in 2014.
Steelman is hardly a "fresh new face" -- she's got six years in the State Senate, four as State Treasurer and an unsuccessful run for governor behind her -- but she's almost certainly a smarter pick for the GOP than Talent, who hasn't won a truly competitive election since 1992.
Cornyn and the national GOP establishment are probably mostly just sick of pouring piles of money into trying to keep Talent on the taxpayer teat.
Urgh! Knapp kind of likes her. That's a major strike against her. Dammit Knapp, can't you say something nasty about her, or something. Call her a "warmonger," or a "sell-out." Something, please! If she passes your smell test than she's a far less attractive candidate for libertarian Republicans.
Eric,
No, I don't "kind of like" Steelman. If I still voted or belonged to a political party, I wouldn't vote for her nor would I belong to the political party she belongs to.
My interest in electoral politics is now entirely of the "horse race handicapping" variety. The only extent to which I give a damn about Steelman is if I decide to bet on the 2012 US Senate race in Missouri.
My evaluation of that race is as follows:
1) With Steelman, the GOP has a good 30-35% chance of unseating McCaskill.
2) With Talent, a 5-10% chance if he does everything right ... and he never does everything right.
I wouldn't bet on the primary outcome unless I saw clear juju from the NRSC, etc. for Steelman.
I wouldn't bet on Steelman to beat McCaskill unless someone gave me very nice odds.
I wouldn't bet on Talent to beat McCaskill under any circumstances. If I want to get rid of money, it's easier to just set it on fire.
Post a Comment