Josh Hawley Running for Claire McCaskill's Missouri Senate Seat

Weekly Standard ^ | 10/10/17 | Andrew Egger

[fungoking]

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley announced Monday evening that he is running for Senate in 2018. The young Republican may prove the most formidable challenger yet to Claire McCaskill, who is widely seen as one of the Senate’s most vulnerable Democrats. Hawley, who is popular and well-connected in Missouri, enters the race an instant frontrunner in the Republican primary. In his announcement video, Hawley skips straight to his general election pitch: that McCaskill, a two-term incumbent, is out of step with his state’s values. “Senator McCaskill, she’s been in D.C. forever,” Hawley says in the video. “She’s turned her back on farmers, she’s ignored working families, she’s been wrong on every Supreme Court nominee for 11 years. She doesn’t represent us.”

State Republicans are desperately hoping to avoid a repeat of their 2012 debacle, where a fractious GOP primary and serial gaffes by nominee Todd Akin led to an easy reelection for McCaskill. Congresswoman Ann Wagner’s July decision not to seek the Senate made some hopeful for a smooth primary.

“We were facing . . . a decent possibility, maybe a 50-50 possibility, of an expensive primary fight,” GOP strategist Gregg Keller told Roll Call at the time. “I think the chances of that are lesser and therefore Republicans are in a better spot.”

But Hawley, who won the attorney general job by 17 points last year, will face a daunting challenge: bridging the gap between supporters of Donald Trump and state moderates who have been some of his biggest boosters in the past.

Hawley has already found himself a flashpoint in tensions over the president: When Trump announced plans to visit Missouri in August, former senator John Danforth, a Hawley supporter, wrote an op-ed condemning him as a “hateful man” and “the most divisive president in our history.” Danforth called on Hawley to denounce Trump; pro-Trump figures called on Hawley to denounce Danforth. Hawley did neither.

We'll see if he can continue to straddle that line.

[fungoking]

McCaskill's biggest fear. Hawley is solid, won the attorney General race with nearly 60% of the vote. Weekly Standard is wrong, Missouri republicans will unite behind Hawley and against McCaskill.

Stick a fork in Claire, she's done.

[KSCITYBOY]

Let’s hope

[Joe Boucher]

Hopefully she sees the writing on the outhouse walls and retires.

[wheresmyusa]

Hawley has to beat my guy first...

Sykes for Senate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppf0sG5KJcs

[Fido969]

Is Weakly Standard still Never-Trump?

[donozark]

Missouri went for Donald Trump by approx. 20 its! Danforth does not call the shots in MO. He has been gone from the Senate for 22 years. He is 81. Say goodnight John.

[Freedom56v2]

I read this:

Hawley has already found himself a flashpoint in tensions over the president: When Trump announced plans to visit Missouri in August, former senator John Danforth, a Hawley supporter, wrote an op-ed condemning him as a “hateful man” and “the most divisive president in our history.” Danforth called on Hawley to denounce Trump; pro-Trump figures called on Hawley to denounce Danforth. Hawley did neither.

Has Hawley made any comment about Danforth’s attack on Trump? If not, why not? He better if he wants to get the “Deplorable” vote.

[Liz]

Oops. Democrat Sen McCaskill denies meeting Russians----McCaskill Tweets She Has Never Met or Called Russian Ambassador. But Past Tweets State Otherwise and so does this pic.

Sen Claire McCaskill (far right) and then-Sen Mary Landrieu meet the Russian Ambassador (left--gray-haired).

====================================================

DATELINE August 2015----America's in the throes of Hillary's presidential aspirations (groan).

WASHINGTON DC […] Top diplomats from Russia and China joined a rare meeting of world powers’ envoys on Capitol Hill this week with roughly 30 Senate Democrats to tamp down concerns over Obama's [Iran] nuclear agreement.

[…] During the meeting (which was confirmed to Foreign Policy magazine by an aide to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)), a number of Democrats expressed genuine confusion about how world powers would react if Congress rejected the [Iran] deal. […]

On Thursday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) alluded to the meeting […] Other lawmakers attending the briefing included Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Chris Coons of Delaware, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Claire McCaskill, and others.

[House Atreides]

I’ll see who Bannon recommends. That slick Sykes (who I don’t know from Adam) commercial is fairly “over the top” & I’d recommend his professional handlers tone it down just a bit — the reverb is overwhelming.

[abclily]

McCaskill was instrumental in getting around the natural-born citizenship requirement for B-HO.

[SoFloFreeper]

Crush her. Get millennials used to voting for conservatives.

A bigly win.

[bgill]

McCaskill was on the SR 511 committee, along with Soetoro and Hellary, to vet McPain. She has tried time and again to get the NBC for POTUS thrown out of the Constitution. The committee agreed the DEFINITION of NBC is born on US soil of TWO US parents. Somehow, she and the other clowns failed to vet or apply that DEFINITION to Soetoro. The sooner she’s gone, the better we’ll all be.

[DIRTYSECRET]

I Hawley the best we got? Something tells me he’s getting a jump on the competition while this Corker ‘skit’ is in the news.

[MHT]

You’ll enjoy this....
http://claytontimes.com/dear-mr-danforth-self-righteous-turkey-call-politics-brand-divisive/

[MHT]

Ann Wagner would have a better chance of beating her. She’s a woman, former Ambassador, and has a son in the military. Danforth is a premier RINO and given Trump’s popularity here, is ruining Hawley’s career by trying to micro-manage him.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

http://www.news-leader.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/09/ex-trump-strategist-steve-bannon-backs-hawley-bringing-insurgent-stamp-and-controversy/746993001/

Ex-Trump strategist Steve Bannon backs Hawley, bringing insurgent stamp and controversy

[donozark]

Thanks for link! A good one!

[CMSMC]

It appears to be Kristol’s attempt to get ahead of Bannon. ought to be interesting.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Wagner is the most liberal Republican overall in the MO delegation. 78% lifetime Conservative rating. That would be a “C-” moderate.

http://acuratings.conservative.org/acu-federal-legislative-ratings/?year1=2016&chamber=11&state1=38&sortable=1