Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Cardetti: Don't Read Too Much Into Results

The spokesman for the Missouri Democratic Party says the fact that Jim Talent netted more votes than Claire McCaskill last night doesn't mean anything about her chances this November.

As of 10 a.m. Wed:

Talent 289,173
McCaskill 281,785

*Difference of 7,388 votes

"You and I both know, these primary numbers don't mean a thing," Cardetti called to tell me after seeing my overview of the races. "Local issues drive whether or not people make a Republican or Democratic ballot. Republicans had more contested races."

"If you are questioning why Claire only got 80% of the vote, you should question why Roy Blunt only got 79% of the vote," Cardetti said. I noted that while Blunt had three opponents, McCaskill only had one. Cardetti responded that I was reading too much into nothing. Could be.

So does it mean anything that Talent netted about 7,000 more votes than McCaskill statewide?
Nope, according to Cardetti. "Republicans had a very contested state auditor's race, they had very competitive state rep races in southwest Missouri. Trying to compare her numbers to his numbers is like apples and oranges. You just can't compare. It doesn't mean anything," Cardetti said.

"In these blowouts, the difference between getting 80% and 85% generally doesn't mean anything," he added.

Overall, no surprises for Cardetti statewide, besides the fact that there is a lot of division between Republicans in the state auditor's race. He also said the state party was watching the #139th G.O.P primary closely last night, "because we have such a great candidate in Jamie Schoolcraft down there."

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