If Talent ran for either office, it would be a slaughter. I don’t have a problem with his voting record, he’s a fine man, he’s just not someone we can trust after losing two high-profile races that he shouldn’t have lost. Kinder, of course, is the only current statewide GOP officeholder (soon to be joined by Tom Schweich who defeated McCaskill’s protege, Susan Montee). Schweich could run against Nixon without giving up his office, but he’s so new on the scene, I’d rather he get some experience as Auditor before making the jump. Perhaps Congressman Sam Graves might be willing to take on Nixon ? Another idea is Jo Ann Emerson, whom I think has been in Congress a bit too long and is going native. If she wins, fine, if she loses, we get another Republican in her seat.
Maybe, maybe not. Maybe better he run for Governor if no other top candidate is willing to tackle it. If he loses, oh well, he'd likely keep it respectable, if he wins, he'd do a good job.
That’s not necessarily the case. One high-profile race he lost was by less than 1% against a better-known opponent, and that race (Governor 2000) was eclipsed by the Ashcroft/Carnahan Senate race. In 2006, Talent was caught in the perfect storm against a statewide elected office holder and still lost by only 2%. That’s not such a terrible record.