Is Claire McCaskill helping Todd Akin in the GOP primary?

STL Today.com (St. Louis Post Dispatch) ^ | August 1, 2012 | BY KEVIN McDERMOTT

[Da Bilge Troll]

ST. LOUIS • A television ad shows U.S. Rep. Todd Akin sitting in front of an American flag, talking with constituents and generally looking serious, as a narrator declares him "Missouri's true conservative."

Akin is "the most conservative congressman in Missouri," says the recent spot. He's "a crusader against bigger government" and has a "pro-family agenda."

The commercial sounds as if it came from the Akin campaign. But it didn't. And it isn't from any of his conservative supporters, either.

In fact, it was paid for by Sen. Claire McCaskill — the incumbent Democrat and the ultimate opponent of whoever wins the Republican primary.

Is McCaskill meddling in the GOP primary to help Akin?

Her campaign declined to comment, except to refer a reporter to a press release announcing ads McCaskill is running against all three Republicans.

But Ken Warren, a political science professor at St. Louis University, suggested that McCaskill is trying to choose her GOP opponent.

"She would rather run against Todd Akin" than either of the other two mainstream GOP candidates, Warren said. "She polls better against him."

Akin is in a primary fight against businessman John Brunner and former Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman for the Republican nomination on Tuesday. The winner will run against McCaskill in November.

A recent Post-Dispatch/News 4 poll shows Brunner, who has invested nearly $5 million of his own money in the race so far, leading the GOP pack. All three major Republican candidates were leading McCaskill in separate one-on-one matchups, with Brunner beating her by the widest margin, the poll showed.

The poll suggested that Akin would offer the least threat to McCaskill in a one-on-one contest.

Brunner's camp says the ad shows McCaskill is scared of their candidate.

[Da Bilge Troll]

Claire-bear is delusional. She has no chance against any of the GOP candidates. I support Akin but I would happily get behind whomever wins.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Ditto.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Akin and Steelman are professional politicians. Brunner is not.

We have enough professional politicians. We don't need any more.

[rwa265]

I also support Akin and I would support Steelman if she wins. But the negative attack ads from Brunner’s camp has turned me against him. For him to try and say Todd isn’t convervative is like trying to say water isn’t two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen.

[Bender2]

Gulity... I'm for Sarah... Steelman!

But Claire McCaskill wins hands down in the Dumb, Clueless... and Ugly Competition!

[Da Bilge Troll]

Akin and Steelman are professional politicians. Brunner is not.

We have enough professional politicians. We don't need any more.

Well, I met Mr. Brunner and spoke to him personally and I was impressed and I believe he is a good conservative. His negative campaign has put me off, but my real problem is John Roberts - I thought he was a conservative, too, but he had no record to speak of and now look what we got. What will Mr. Brunner do in Washington? I'd rather see him run for some other office that doesn't have a 6-year term.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I take it you consider speaking the truth about your opponents to be "negative campaigning?"