Claire McCaskill trails GOP candidates in Senate race, poll shows (post-dispatch)

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/claire-mccaskill-trails-gop-candidates-in-senate-race-poll-shows/article_7dc3f2e4-d84e-11e1-a6e2-001a4bcf6878.html
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McCaskill, the first-term incumbent Democratic senator, trails all three of her likely Republican challengers, according to a new Post-Dispatch/News 4 poll. She would lose to GOP frontrunner John Brunner by 11 percentage points if they were matched up today, the poll found. She would fall to Sarah Steelman or Todd Akin as well, though by smaller margins.

Further, her "unfavorable" rating is higher than her "favorable," and some of her worst numbers are among all-important independent voters.

The poll of 625 registered Missouri voters suggests a key source of McCaskill's problems is her support of President Barack Obama. The Democratic president — who almost won Missouri in 2008, and once considered the state a 2012 tossup — now has a 51 percent negative rating here and a 9-point deficit against Republican challenger Mitt Romney, according to the poll.

"A lot of people are going to hold her accountable for her close ties to the president," said pollster J. Brad Coker of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. of Washington, which conducted the poll."