Talent, who was tied with McCaskill in a recent poll, has tried to avoid the topic, refusing to take a position on a proposed amendment to Missouri’s constitution to allow all research permitted under federal law. His reluctance to speak out irritated Missouri stem-cell opponents. “We were concerned,” says Patricia Skain, executive director of Missouri Right to Life. “And we certainly had some conversations with him about that.” In May, Talent finally came out against the amendment with a three- sentence statement saying that he “personally” could not support it because it would “make cloning human life at the earliest stage a constitutional right.” But Talent may be under pressure to use a bigger megaphone. Local and national conservative groups are planning a major ad push before Missourians vote on the amendment in November, and they expect pro-life politicians to champion the issue if they want the movement’s support. “The pro-life community is not fractured on this,” says Skain. “I think [Talent] is preparing to speak out more.”
Talent’s troubles havenational implications for Republicans, who have failed to present a unified stem-cell front. President George W. Bush, who needs social conservatives to help shore up his poll numbers, has said he’ll veto the Senate bill–whose chief sponsor is GOP floor leader Bill Frist. Opponents of the research say the Missouri contests are essential for proving that Red State America is on their side. “This is a conservative state,” says Jaci Winship, executive director of the anti-stem-cell coalition Missourians Against Human Cloning. “If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.”
