PPP has a new survey of Iowa that supplies additional evidence of the folly of American Crossroads’ announced plan to make sure Rep. Steve King isn’t the Republican nominee for the open Senate seat being vacated by Tom Harkin.
Among Iowa Republicans, King leads every conceivable configuration of primary candidates by a minimum of 19 points. In a straight-up contest with the “Establishment” favorite, Rep. Tom Latham, King leads 50-27. I seriously doubt Latham is going to give up a House seat on those odds, particularly given King’s well-known campaign skills and his ability to attract the kind of national wingnut money that could match anything Karl Rove can throw in.
PPP also shows King losing a general election to every named Democratic possibility, and trailing the most likely Democratic nominee, Rep. Bruce Braley, by eleven points. Iowa Republicans know King is a tough sell. But they’d probably rather lose the seat than to take dictation from Karl Rove. At some point American Crossroads donors may even begin to smell the coffee and retire the former Boy Genius from his major role in national politics.
