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AP: McCain takes Missouri

Posted by Scott Helman, Political Reporter November 19, 2008 03:56 PM

More than two weeks after Election Day, the Associated Press today declared John McCain the winner in Missouri, a hotly contested Republican-leaning state where McCain and President-elect Barack Obama both campaigned hard.

McCain leads Obama by 3,632 votes with all jurisdictions reporting, according to unofficial results, a difference of .12 percentage points out of more than 2.9 million votes cast, the AP reports.

The AP notes that McCain's victory breaks the state's 52-year streak of picking winning presidential candidates. Missouri is, though, developing something of a reputation for extremely tight races. Senator Claire McCaskill eked out a victory in the wee hours in the 2006 mid-terms, and Obama beat Hillary Clinton there in the primary after some networks initially called the state for her.

McCain's win in the Show-Me State leaves Obama with 365 Electoral College votes, and McCain with 173.

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The report fails to mention what I consider a very significant piece of data in the Missouri Presidential results. That would be the fact that Ralph Nader received more than four times the number of votes by which Obama lost. Thus, had the Presidential race been so close as to make Missouri determinative, Nader would have once again been the spoiler despite his promises not to place his name on the ballot in any state where that might have been a possibility. If Nader had any credibility left to loose, this should certainly take care of it. Although Obama apparently did meet or exceed his goal in the conservative SW Missouri, where I spent the last few days of the campaign, I personally believe he would have surpassed it sufficiently to take Missouri had it not been for the saturation of the local TV stations with the pernicious attack ads featuring Reverend Wright. These were sponsored by a 527 rather than the McCain campaign. I also believe that had equal coverage been given to Todd Palin's past membership in the Alaska Independence Party and/or the horrifying behavior of Governor Palin's close spiritual associate, Rev. Thomas Murthee many of the voters of SW Missouri would have seen through the ridiculous notion that she was "one of them." I do consider the unequal coverage of these issues serious dereliction on the part of the press.

Posted by GL Smith November 20, 08 02:47 AM
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