24 MISSOURI: Finally, Some Claire Plans
Multiple Hotline sources are confirming '04 GOV nominee/Aud. Claire McCaskill (D) will enter the race 8/30 (8/29).
St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Mannies writes: "sentiment is divided. The view is that she is either: Preparing to emulate" Sen. Jim Talent (R), who won a SEN '02 race after losing for GOV '00. Or she's: "About to commit political suicide by abandoning a seemingly secure re-election bid to listen to" Dem leaders who say she has to run "or doom the party's statewide ticket."
However, recent news that McCaskill hired St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's ex-manager Tod Martin "was touted by some as possible evidence" of her not running. Martin would be a good choice for a re-election contest, those pundits say, but he could be viewed as too local and too green" for a SEN bid.
GOPers close to Talent "offer hints of the senator's game plan if McCaskill opts to run against him: highlight her lack of experience" in DC, at theme which "appeared to rattle the confidence" of ex-Sen. Jean Carnahan (D). His camp "also points to his record-setting fundraising this year." Meanwhile, the MO Dems are "testing a counterpunch by zeroing in on what it asserts is Talent's lack of political will or muscle." Exhibit A: BRAC's decision to strip MO of about 3K military-related jobs (8/29).
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