A veteran political reporter says the Republican wave that swept the nation and Missouri could be seen coming months before Election Day.

It’s hard to remember that Democrat Robin Carnahan led Republican Roy Blunt in the polls last year. Veteran political reporter Steve Kraske with the Kansas City Star says the polls turned at the beginning of the year as dissatisfaction with the Obama Administration built in Missouri, leading to the largest margin of victory in a US Senate race in Missouri since 1994.

“And I think it begins to speak to, just again, the size and strength of the GOP wave and also begins to speak a little bit I think, when you lose by this much, the weak nature of the Carnahan campaign, a campaign that just never came together,” Kraske tells the Missourinet.

Republicans retained the US Senate seat, took the Auditor’s office and strengthened their grip on the state legislature.

Kraske says Democrats cling only to the metro areas of Kansas City and St. Louis.

“The party’s simply has got to figure out how to sell itself better, because it has lost the rest of the state,” Kraske says. “That speaks in very frightening ways for folks who want to run statewide in the years ahead.”

He says Governor Nixon is the Democrat who faces the toughest challenge right now, dealing with a General Assembly dominated by Republicans.

AUDIO: Brent Martin interviews Steve Kraske [15 min MP3]

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [1:15 MP3]