Claire McCaskill
Claire McCaskill
Claire Conner McCaskillis an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who serves as the senior United States Senator from Missouri. The first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri in her own right, she defeated Republican incumbent Jim Talent in the 2006 election, by a margin of 49.6% to 47.3%. She became the state's senior U.S. Senator upon the retirement of Kit Bond in 2011 and won a bid for re-election in 2012, defeating Republican Todd Akin...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth24 July 1953
CountryUnited States of America
I've got a really hard election. If you had a really hard election and it was after Labor Day would you go to North Carolina to a bunch of parties and glad-handing or would you stay home and work as hard as you know how to convince Missourians they should rehire you?
It's very hard from a distance to figure out who has lost their minds. One party, the other party, all of us, the president.
I'm a moderate. I hang out in the middle. I vote against my party with some regularity and try to compromise. It doesn't appear right now that the Republican Party is welcoming moderates any more.
I voted against my party with some frequency, because of my independence. I've just got to remind Missourians that I am independent and that I try to call them like I see them, and sometimes my party is wrong on some things.
When the Tea Party comes to town, compromise goes out the door.
I just want to make sure that they feel comfortable that I am ready to take these folks on, that I am ready to be on their side, that I can do this. And that means listening to them and reassuring them that I'm not going to be afraid to say no to anybody in my party, anybody in the Republican Party or any lobbyist.
You know I think the president has to really focus on getting elected to a second term in 2012. And I need to focus on making sure I'm accountable to the people of Missouri.
You know, we've got to be responsible about our debt. We don't want the United States to ever be a dead beat, and not be able to pay its bills, either to our soldiers who are fighting or to Social Security recipients.
Only in Washington would the Republican operatives get the entire press corps ginned up over the notion that I'm going to be home campaigning instead of going to a bunch of worthless parties at a convention that's only being held to do something we all know is going to happen anyway.
Many countries struggle and never get to the point where people have faith that laws are executed fairly.
So I think that this is wrong, and common sense tells us it?s wrong. And I?m worried that the president is going to bully this through and the impact that has.
We have a lot of things we give away to people who are very, very wealthy in this country. And I'm not sure that our federal government can afford that.
You have to be willing to offend in order to make progress.
I never need to go far if I need a reminder of how important Medicare and Social Security are to Missouri's seniors. My mom, Betty Anne, is one of millions for whom these services provide a reliable safety net. Across the country, these protections are an integral part of sustaining millions of seniors' health and dignity.