A close read of this piece is a virtual road map to victory…against Koster.  For all intents and purposes, Chris Koster and his win at any cost shenanigans in the primary have cost him a viable shot in the general.  He came into the Democrat primary with a yet undefined quality of “what’s up with this guy”, but folks were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  But after the headlines (check flipping, a stalking horse candidate, Dem leaders returning seemingly improper contributions….just to name the top three) General Election voters now have a much better sense of who this guy is.  Typically, down ballot races like this remain fairly undefined until late, but Koster has taken care of that problem in a way that is most unfortunate for him.  He gambled, he overplayed, and he lost.  From The Pitch:

Cynicism works. Polls are crap. Good hair wins.

These are the lessons to take from the Democratic primary in which a former Republican emerged as the nominee for Missouri attorney general. The winner, state Sen. Chris Koster, captured 784 more votes than Margaret Donnelly, a state rep from suburban St. Louis.Koster ran a bold campaign. He used the slogan “All Prosecutor, No Politics” — a statement that might have been true once, before Koster quit locking up Cass County criminals in order to taste the pleasures of Jefferson City. Mr. Hundred-Percent Prosecutor’s term was 50 percent unfinished when he ran for the Senate in 2004.

Seeking his third different office in six years, Koster relied on a gimmick to advance. No, that gimmick wasn’t his decision to switch parties after casting a vote, with his fellow Republicans, that cost 25,000 kids their health care. This time, the gimmick was the emergence of a junior-high teacher in the primary.

Read the Rest…