Will on Claire

George Will has written a nice little article regarding the Missouri Senate race. For anyone that's following the race, and that almost certainly means anyone reading this, it's little more than a summary, but it is nice to see the race getting some national play. Stalwarts of the national conservatism such as National Review have been somewhat critical of Talent in recent years on such issues as his withdrawal from the cloning ban and ethanol spending. Fair criticisms all, but the likely margin of the race and the massive disparity between what Senator Talent stands for and what (shudder) Senator McCaskill would stand for should be getting the race more national attention from conservatives.

Will is pretty tough on McCaskill, not only on policy, but for what he calls her "imprudently forthright" demeanor. Hmm, where have I heard that before? Great minds, I suppose. Now I just need a bowtie. To be fair, a loss here is it for McCaskill. Her millionaire husband is not going to want to finance and the MDP is not going to want to support someone with two high-profile statewide losses within two years of each other. Expect McCaskill's rhetoric to get more acidic as she gets closer to what could be the end of her political career. I really don't mean that as a criticism, it's the name of the game for a professional politician. But for someone who is trying to court the rural vote, she may want to curtail "Ashcroftland" comments. That's a little free advice from Freesoiler to the woman who would be our first urban/rural/STL/KC Senator. Also, maybe if you'd pick up the check, you'd get a more favorable column.

PS - Anyone who likes Will's stuff should check out his books on baseball Men at Work and Bunts. Really top-notch stuff, and the former profiles the Cardinals' own Tony La Russa.