New poll puts Rep. Steve King at a disadvantage in Iowa Senate race

By Richard K. Barry

It's goods news and bad news for hyper-conservative Rep. Steve King (R) who is considering a run in 2014 in Iowa to replace retiring Democratic Senator Tom Harkin. On the one hand, King is well out ahead of any potential GOP challenger for the Republican nomination. On the other hand, he is well back of any Democratic candidate who was tested in a recent Public Policy Polling survey. 

As PPP writes:

We tested three different iterations of the GOP candidate field for next year, and King leads by at least 19 points in each one of them. In a four candidate scenario he gets 41% to 22% for Tom Latham, 10% for Kim Reynolds, and 9% for Bob Vander Plaats. In a three candidate field that doesn't include Reynolds he gets 42% to 23% for Latham and 19% for Vander Plaats. And in a head to head with Latham he leads 50/27.

But, as they continue:

The problem for Republicans is that King would start out at a significant disadvantage in a general election. The most likely Democratic candidate, Bruce Braley, would start out 11 points ahead of King at 49/38. The three other Democrats we looked at lead King by substantial margins as well- Tom Vilsack would lead King 49/39, Chet Culver would lead 48/41, and Dave Loebsack would lead 47/40.

Make no mistake, Steve King is one of those hardcore crazy Republicans who appeals to the base but will have a hell of time in the general election, just the kind of senate candidate that scares the hell out of people like Karl Rove, the Conservative Victory Project,  and other Republicans interested in taking back the Senate. 

How sweet would it be to add King's name to the list that includes O'Donnell, Angle, Mourdock, and Akin?