Latest news today out of Missouri courtesy of Public Policy Polling’s latest poll:
A new Public Policy Polling survey of Missouri voters finds that Claire McCaskill leadsRepublican challenger Josh Hawley 45-44 for reelection. The political climate in Missouri has shifted in a number of ways since 2016 that greatly improve McCaskill’sreelection chances:
-Voters in the state are almost evenly divided now on Donald Trump, with 48% approving of him to 47% who disapprove. That represents a sharp decline in Trump’spopularity given his 19 point victory in the state, but is also consistent with the decline in his approval numbers seen across the country.-Only 28% of voters in the state want a Senator who is loyal to Donald Trump and wants to promote his agenda, to 64% who prefer someone that is independent and will put Missouri first.
-Senate Republicans have a terrible brand in Missouri. Only 23% of voters in the state approve of the job Mitch McConnell is doing as Senate Majority Leader, to 54% who disapprove. That is likely to make voters less inclined to send another vote for his agenda to Washington.
-Republicans have also hurt themselves on several key issues in Missouri in the last year.Only 38% of voters think the best path forward on health care is to repeal the Affordable Care Act, while 54% would rather keep it in place and makes fixes to it as necessary. Voters strongly prefer the approach Claire McCaskill has taken on health care to what theRepublicans have tried to do.
-There’s also strong bipartisan support for DACA, where the Republicans in Washington have dragged their feet. 61% of voters support it to only 27% who are opposed- that includes 74/17 support from Democrats, 63/23 from independents, and 45/42 even from GOP voters.
Click here for the full results.
By the way, Hawley also has another big problem to deal with:
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley has a Steve Bannon problem.
Hawley courted former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon shortly before entering the U.S. Senate race last year in a bid to oust incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill. Now Hawley could face political trouble because of his silence over Bannon’s ugly split with President Donald Trump.
Hawley, a 37-year-old political newcomer, declined to comment on the Trump-Bannon fight until an hour after the publication of this article Tuesday. Kelli Ford, his campaign spokeswoman, then sent a statement to McClatchy saying that “Josh has said from the beginning that he welcomes the support of anyone who wants to see a conservative Republican Senator elected from Missouri.”
“Now that Senator McCaskill has voted against tax cuts for the middle class, it’s even more important that Republicans around the country unite to grow our majority,” Ford said. “Josh is proud to have the support of President Trump and from conservatives who want to defeat Senator McCaskill.”
Asked about Hawley’s silence earlier this week, Chris Pack, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s influential Senate Leadership Fund, wouldn’t speak about Hawley directly. But Pack made it clear it was time for GOP Senate hopefuls to choose sides.
“We think all candidates should disavow Steve Bannon after he accused the President’s family of treason and has been repudiated by the White House,” Pack said. “You are either with President Trump or with Steve Bannon.”
Trump bashed Bannon last week after the Breitbart executive was quoted in Michael Wolff’s explosive new book calling a 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a group of Russians at Trump Tower “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.” The New York Times reported on Tuesday afternoon that Bannon is stepping down from Breitbart News.
Trump fired off a blistering statement saying Bannon “has nothing to do with me or my Presidency” and “When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.”
Bannon apologized to the Trump family, but his already-tenuous standing as a political powerhouse plummeted, leaving Hawley and other GOP candidates who’d sought Bannon’s approval in an awkward spot.
Bannon had tried to be a GOP kingmaker, notably in the Alabama Senate race last month, when he enthusiastically supported Republican Roy Moore. Moore, dogged by allegations of improper sexual contact, narrowly lost to Democrat Doug Jones.
A thumbs up from Bannon, once seen as a way for candidates to secure the GOP’s pro-Trump base, has now exposed them to attacks from primary opponents — and pressure from the Republican establishment to disavow Bannon publicly.
One Republican strategist involved in the midterms expressed frustration and bewilderment at the refusal of some candidates, including Hawley, to break with Bannon decisively.
Let’s help McCaskill get ready to defeat this Bannon-loving clown. Click here to donate and get involved with McCaskill’s re-election campaign.