The Hotline says today ” If Claire McCaskill and Bob Corker eke out SEN wins 11/7, they can thank Rush Limbaugh and nat’l Dems, respectively, whose outraged reactions this week to TV ads running in MO and TN played right into the hands of those who ran the spots.”

I don’t agree at all re: McCaskill. Very few people were paying attention to a really imporant ballot initiative in Missouri. When the media had a sexy story — Rush vs. Alex P. Keaton — it was the first time the issue really got airtime. If Rush had never said anything about the Missouri Fox commercial, the initiative would still be off most people’s radar’s. Far from all the press is ideal or clear or true, and much of it focuses on a sidebar issue (RL vs MJF), but as I said yesterday, seeing Patricia Heaton talking about concerns about egg donation on The Today Show was no small thing. The idea that there is some deceit behind Amendment 2 is getting some kind of hearing. And that’s kinda unprecedented with these things. When New Jersey embraced cloning hardly anyone wrote about it. There’s been progress.

How does the press coverage this week work politicially? It could help Talent. It could — and I think is — help kill Amendment 2. I don’t think McCaskill really wanted to have to be talking about somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning) on TV this week. I think she just wanted people to feel bad for Michael J. Fox and think Jim Talent is mean while watching the World Series.