WINNER: McCaskill, by a nose!

R: Jim Talent (incumbent)
D: Claire McCaskill

Race Breakdown:
The Missouri Senate race was close and then not and then close again, maybe. With state auditor Claire McCaskill, Democrats may have a chance to nab Republican incumbent Jim Talent’s seat in this red-leaning state.

Talent is a first-termer who won a special election in 2002, taking over the remaining years on Mel Carnahan’s term. Talent has been close with the Bush administration and has largely hewn to the party line (though he’s tried to prtray himself as independent in campaign ads). McCaskill has portrayed herself as a Washington outsider.
Both candidates have previously run for governor in the state, making them familiar faces for Missouri voters.

The key issues in the race are big on both the local and national scene– the war in Iraq, the minimum wage and stem-cell research, which Talent has wavered on and McCaskill supports.

With such a close race, one thing’s for sure – the “Show-Me State” will definitely have something to “show” the country once all is said and done.

Find out more:
Jim Talent for Senate
Claire McCaskill for Senate
Kansas City Star: McCaskill vs. Talent: Inside the issues
St. Louis Post-Dispatch portrait of Talent

NATIONAL SECURITY AND WAR

IRAQ

Talent opposed the Kerry troop redeployment amendment and has been supportive of the Bush administration in the war in Iraq. He’s said that he would have still voted for war, even without WMD claims. more

McCaskill has said she would support additional troops in Iraq only if it was a temporary measure as part of a two year plan to eventually deploy troops out of Iraq. She believes the U.S. troops may actually be slowing the growth of democracy in Iraq.

TERRORISM STRATEGIES

Talent supported the PATRIOT Act Reauthorization and wants to increase the defense, homeland security and intelligence budgets.

McClaskill supported renewing the PATRIOT Act., but has been critical of some of its civil rights infringements. (see here and here.) She believes Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld should resign or be fired.

EDUCATION

STUDENT LOANS and GRANTS

Talent voted to cut funding from federal loan programs, but he also voted to increase the maximum federal Pell Grant amount. (read more)

McCaskill wants to increase Pell Grants and expand the Direct Loan program to include all students, which would particularly impact minority students in the state.

SCHOOLS

Talent was not in the Senate during the vote on the No Child Left Behind Act, but he has been critical of it, saying he believes it needs to “focus more on improvement, than absolute standards.” He voted against additional education funding last year.

McCaskill is against the No Child Left Behind Act. She believes the Act is under-funded and that more local control is needed. She wants more federal spending on education.

ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

HABITAT vs. OIL

Talent sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. He’s an avid proponent of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and co-sponsored legislation to allow drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

McCaskill thinks drilling in ANWR “is not a solution to our energy crisis.” She would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil by investing more money into renewable resources, and says she would work to make certain 10 percent of U.S. electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020.

ENERGY IDEAS

Talent supported Bush’s energy plan and opposed a goal of reducing dependence on foreign oil by 40 percent by 2025. Talent however says he’s a big fan of renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel and believes investing resources into renewable energy will keep gas prices low and lessen dependence on foreign oil sources.

McCaskill wants the government to stop government handouts to big oil companies and start providing more government incentives to alternative fuels and cleaner energy sources. She thinks nuclear power may be a good option. (more)

ECONOMY

MINIMUM WAGE

Talent supported a Republican minimum wage proposal last year; he opposed the Dems’ bill. Missourians will vote on a ballot initiative this election that would raise the state minimum wage to $6.50. Talent hasn’t taken a position on the measure; McCaskill supports it. (more

Talent wants to raise the minimum wage, so long as small businesses are not paying for the increase.

McCaskill is steadfastly in favor of raising the minimum wage.

TAXES

Talent supported the Bush tax cuts and has generally been a champion of tax cuts across the board. He also believes married couples should not have to pay higher tax percentages and that families with children should receive a $1000 tax credit. He supports estate tax cuts because he says they would help farmers pass along property to family without penalties.

McCaskill opposes the Bush tax cuts: “To make permanent tax breaks for multimultimillionaires is not right.” She is also opposed to estate tax cuts, believing they assist the wealthy. She instead proposes a plan to “help the middle class” by offering a tax credit to first-time homebuyers and allowing families to either deduct up to $10,000 per year for college tuition and other related expenses or to receive a tax credit of $3,000 for tuition and books.

CRIME

JUVENILE CRIME

Talent wasn’t in the Senate at the time of the 1999 Juvenile Crime bill. But, as a Congressman at the time, he supported a House bill that would have provided increased funding for local and state governments to address juvenile crime. The House bill did not require youth offenders to be tried as adults in any case. (more)

McCaskill served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1983 to 1988, where she was vocal about criminal justice issues. She wrote the state’s Minimum Sentencing Act, increasing sentences for repeat violent criminals. She has no record specifically on juvenile crime.

HATE CRIMES

Talent wasn’t in office for the 2000 Senate Hate Crimes Bill, but he was co-author of a bill that would establish new Justice Departmetn units to investigate and prosecute long-unsolved civil rights crimes. (more)

McCaskill supports Talent’s civil rights crimes bill. She has no record on hate crimes.

—MM