Stem cell battle emerging as key issue in Missouri Senate race

Posted on Wed, Jan. 25, 2006
Stem cell battle emerging as key issue in Missouri Senate race
SAM HANANELAssociated Press

WASHINGTON - As debate in Missouri intensifies over a proposed ballot initiative on stem cell research, so does the pressure on Sen. Jim Talent to step into the fray.

So far, the Missouri Republican has largely remained on the sidelines, declining to take a direct position on a constitutional amendment that would safeguard stem cell research and treatments in the state.

The petition drive is emerging as a key political issue in this year's U.S. Senate race, and some are predicting the divisions it's causing in the Republican Party could hurt Talent's re-election chances in November.

"If Talent comes out in favor of stem cell research, he loses support from the evangelicals," said Max Skidmore, professor of political science at University of Missouri-Kansas City. "If he opposes it, he'll lose support from the business community that otherwise might support him."

Talent, who faces a strong challenge from Democrat and Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill, has carefully couched his response so far, saying he'll make a decision after voters decide whether they want the issue on the ballot. A massive signature campaign is underway.
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http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/13710191.htm



Yay, Claire!

Hope she'll "smoke him out" and "get him on the run!" -> -> -> ->

vote against Alito:

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill on Tuesday pledged support for a proposed ballot initiative that would protect research on early human stem cells in Missouri.
“Never in the history of our great nation has America turned her back on groundbreaking research,” McCaskill, the state auditor, told reporters outside the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.
The founders of the institute, Jim and Virginia Stowers, have contributed more than $4 million to the initiative campaign.
McCaskill’s likely opponent, Republican incumbent Sen. Jim Talent, said later in the day that he had not taken a position on the proposal, which backers are seeking to place on the November ballot.
Talent, though, is co-sponsor of a bill by Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, that would ban human cloning, including embryonic therapeutic cloning that most researchers see as a key to effective early stem-cell study.
McCaskill said Talent’s backing of the Brownback bill provided a clear distinction between the candidates.
“It is a very clear choice, whether you want to be behind hope for lifesaving cures, or whether you want to criminalize research that can change people’s lives and save people’s lives,” she said.
McCaskill and Talent have differed on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. McCaskill opposes the nomination; Talent favors it.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/living/health/13704016.htm

Get out there and be the decisive one and leave NoTalent in your dust. :bounce:

Are there any "God, gun, or gay" issues on the ballot in November that could bring the whackjobs out? If not, Claire's got a great chance to take him out.