Check this out. Independent poll (registration required) http://www.king5.com/sharedcontent/regis tration/register.jsp?fw=http://www.king5 .com/localnews/stories/NW_022606WABcantw ellSW.66558ac4.html shows Cantwell with 50 point lead!!! Scratch this one off the vulnerable list, if this poll has any validity!

Go Maria!!!

Heard this morning that some outfit named Texans for Insurance Reform has bought TV time, probably to slam Ciro in San Antonio and drive down turnout.

This is turning into a real grudge match. We need to win this one!!! Scrape up what you can and give more to Ciro and the orgs fighting on his behalf. Only 10 days to send this message!

24  MISSOURI: Finally, Some Claire Plans

      Multiple Hotline sources are confirming '04 GOV nominee/Aud. Claire McCaskill (D) will enter the race 8/30 (8/29).
      St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Mannies writes: "sentiment is divided. The view is that she is either: Preparing to emulate" Sen. Jim Talent (R), who won a SEN '02 race after losing for GOV '00. Or she's: "About to commit political suicide by abandoning a seemingly secure re-election bid to listen to" Dem leaders who say she has to run "or doom the party's statewide ticket."
      However, recent news that McCaskill hired St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's ex-manager Tod Martin "was touted by some as possible evidence" of her not running. Martin would be a good choice for a re-election contest, those pundits say, but he could be viewed as too local and too green" for a SEN bid.
      GOPers close to Talent "offer hints of the senator's game plan if McCaskill opts to run against him: highlight her lack of experience" in DC, at theme which "appeared to rattle the confidence" of ex-Sen. Jean Carnahan (D). His camp "also points to his record-setting fundraising this year." Meanwhile, the MO Dems are "testing a counterpunch by zeroing in on what it asserts is Talent's lack of political will or muscle." Exhibit A: BRAC's decision to strip MO of about 3K military-related jobs (8/29).
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