Posted on 10/26/2018 3:47:20 PM PDT by centurion316
In politics, when a candidate is called a “golden boy” it’s usually not a compliment. More often than not, it means he has been elevated to a position he didn’t deserve, through help from party bigwigs or big donors.
The press is primed to target such candidates. And when it is looking for flaws—the more embarrassing the better—it can usually find some. Republicans, far more than Democrats, are targets of this treatment because the media love to poke holes in Republican candidates.
This brings us to Missouri’s Senate race. Missouri is a red state. President Trump won here by nearly 19 percentage points in 2016. Nonetheless, Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill, 65, was regarded as highly competitive in her bid for reelection. She is tough and resourceful, and her campaign is massively well financed.
Republicans were apoplectic when she won in 2012. She ran ads in the GOP primary—yes, the other party’s primary—that boosted congressman Todd Akin, the weakest Republican aspirant. He won the primary and then lost ignominiously to McCaskill.
To avoid a repeat, four prominent Republicans intervened. In July 2017, they addressed a public letter to Josh Hawley, 38, the state attorney general, urging him to run against McCaskill. The four included two who’d been senator and governor (John Ashcroft, Kit Bond) and two former senators (John Danforth, Jim Talent). At first leery, Hawley then acquiesced.
You can see where this is heading. Hawley won the primary and became a “golden boy.” And the onslaught began. In May, Politico called him “lackadaisical” and headlined its story “GOP golden boy mails it in.” In July, the New York Times reported Democrats and Republicans were saying “his swift rise made him a political opportunist who was looking ahead to a Senate bid when he ran for attorney general.” There’s no evidence for this accusation.
It’s at this point an unexpected thing happened. Hawley defied the golden boy stereotype. He emerged as an impressive and likable candidate. He campaigned effectively. He did well in the first televised debate with McCaskill, put her on the defensive time after time in their second debate, and did it again in the third. And as he moved ahead in polls, the golden boy tag faded. The press and critics had been wrong.
I certainly hope so. That McCaskill is one piece of work.
I think at the end of the day it’ll depend on how much his opposition to pre-existing condition coverage will hurt him. And it’s still McCaskill. She’s got something up her sleeve waiting for the last week in the campaign. Hawley has to keep on his toes and be ready to respond to whatever she comes up with.
I live in Missouri and am going to vote early (and often) for Hawley.
McCaskill wouldn’t have won in 2012 if the GOP hadn’t nominated a retard (Todd Akin) who made the dumbest comment of all about women who are raped cannot get pregnant.
I think her days are numbered. She’s running here as a “moderate” who “works with the opposition.” That’s a rank lie. She’s a Leftard and nothing a good ol’ red state like ours can live with.
Someone once described McCaskill as President of the "I can't understand how they got a second term" club. I just hope she doesn't become the President of the "I can't can't understand how they got a third term" club.
It’s easy to require that all heath insurance have provisions to include existing conditions coverage. The difficult part is figuring out how to pay for it. The Democrats are telling voters that it will be free, the health fairy will pay for it. All you need to do is to vote for Democrats.
We could establish an an existing conditions nationwide pool that could spread the risk and fund it through a national surcharge for all insurance carriers. It wouldn’t be free, but it would be reasonable if spread among all Americans. You can depend that the Democrats will never come up with such a common sense approach.
You do have to give credit to the Democrats for coming up with an issue that will garner votes to their candidates with no intention of solving the problem.
In one of her radio ads they say, “she’s not one of those crazy democrats”. She might not be, but she sure does vote like one.
If they started fact-checking political ads they'd all be in trouble.
It's been one Hawley has been hit with for some times and I honestly don't think he's effectively fought it. We'll see how much of a difference it's made.
The article correctly points out the importance of GOP candidates for major office being both tough and likable. Such a combination requires a high degree of self-awareness, discipline, and a dogged readiness to be pleasant toward enemies as one angles for a good shot at a weak point.
McCaskill wants her staff investigated......for telling the truth.
McCaskill campaign staffers are caught on video explaining that P/Parenthood secretly funnels donations to her
to avoid the scrutiny of Missouri’s conservative electorate.
“PP goes through other means to get us that money. Not that PP doesn't support Claire,
it’s because they know it’s a tough state to win for a pro-abort Democrat.”
Why is McCaskill trying to hide her PP connections?
McCaskill is playing the same fool-the-stupid-voters game as Louisiana loser Landrieu.
Democrat Landrieu got caught saying she had to "talk down" to the home folks.
They were "too stupid" to understand why she said one thing to them then voted the opposite.
I live in Missouri too and have a Hawley sign in my front yard and this household will all vote for him (and all the Republicans) on Nov 6th. Don’t watch much TV but McCaskill’s radio ads are very misleading and becoming more desperate, almost paints herself as a Republican. Her campaign knows she is going down and trying to salvage.
We could establish an an existing conditions nationwide pool that could spread the risk and fund it through a national surcharge for all insurance carriers. It wouldn’t be free, but it would be reasonable if spread among all Americans. You can depend that the Democrats will never come up with such a common sense approach.
*****
It’s almost irrelevant now with many Hispanics having diabetes and other conditions at levels associated with blacks. Whites aren’t far behind. This is literally a sick country
MO can do it. The state has been swinging to the right the last 15 years.
> “McCaskill wouldn’t have won in 2012 if the GOP hadn’t nominated a retard (Todd Akin) who made the dumbest comment of all about women who are raped cannot get pregnant.
There were a lot of people on FR back then that were saying that statement would help him more than hurt him. They were wrong. I never understood their thinking. Evidently, neither did the majority of the voters.
“How Josh Hawley Became a Likable—and Viable—Candidate for Senate in Missouri” Isn’t is amazing how a NeverTrump scumbag deigns to acknowledge that the guy who won this election the instant he was nominated is “viable?”
Turds gotta be turds I guess.
The Eleventh Commandment :
Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.
Enjoy the winning.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.