Public opinion polls indicate Republican Kenny Hulshof has a lot of ground to make up if he is to defeat Democrat Jay Nixon for governor, but Hulshof tells the Missourinet he believes his campaign is gaining steam.
Hulshof, the northeast Missouri Congressman, says he isn’t concerned about the polls.
"I’ve seen polls where numbers are all over the map," Hulshof tells the Missourinet, "but what I’ve also seen and at least what our own internal polling shows is that we are trending in the right direction."
Few polls see it that way. Democrat Jay Nixon, the state attorney general, enjoys a comfortable lead in a handful of major polls with anywhere from 52 to 56 percent of the vote. Hulshof trails badly, anywhere from 34 to 39 percent. Hulshof also trails in money. At the start of this month, Nixon had $3.2 million dollars to spend. Hulshof had $1.2 million. Nixon has out raised Hulshof almost two-to-one.
Polls also indicate that Democrat Barack Obama has pulled ahead of Republican John McCain in the presidential race in Missouri. Hulshof doesn’t believe the presidential contest will affect his, unless one of the candidates pulls out to a substantial lead.
Hulshof is stumping the state. He says he feels like he’s gaining momentum with a little more than three weeks left in the election.
"I think people are looking for leadership," Hulshof tells us, "and leadership requires some political courage and vision to move our state along and I think I’ve offered that and continue to offer it and (we’re) getting great response."
It appears, though, that Hulshof has a big hill to climb if he is to be elected governor November 4th.
Download/listen Brent Martin interviews Kenny Hulshof (4:52 MP3)
