Former Senator Claire McCaskill presented to a full house at the West County Democrats meeting today. When she left the Senate earlier this year, she was the top-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. Before joining the Senate in 2006, McCaskill was Missouri’s State Auditor and before that, the elected prosecutor of Kansas City. She is the only woman ever elected to the Senate from Missouri and the only person in Missouri history to unseat a sitting Governor in a primary campaign.
David Cook, the President of the United Food and Commercial Worker (UFCW) Local 655 (who generously provide the WCD meeting space), introduced Claire McCaskill and shared his very positive experience of working with the Senator in the past few years– especially for her accessibility and integrity– even on issues on which they disagreed.
While that good work is behind her, Senator McCaskill took time from her still busy schedule as a political analyst for NBC to share her passion and view of the state of politics and governance in our State and at the National level. Some of the key thoughts:
In the last election, support (as measured in votes) for Claire was much stronger in key districts than is commonly understood– including districts now held by Republicans in state or Congressional offices. The message is this state is not as deep red as some would believe, especially in the suburban and x-urban areas, and Missouri has the clear potential to be a competitive state again.
Claire’s belief is that Midwestern voters are open to common sense ideas and middle of the road candidates who take a more practical approach to solving some of the more pressing issues of our time– particularly in light of the ill-considered, punitive and fiscally irresponsible actions being taken at the State and National level. The key is reaching out and starting those conversations with family and friends outside of our own geography.
When asked about mitigating the effects of dark money on politics, she commented that, in her last campaign, they raised $40 Million in about $50 average donations. That would not have been possible a few years ago, and it IS an effective counter-balance to wealthy big money donors. In fact, those smaller donations are even more highly prized today because they represent the most engaged and committed voters.
A question was raised about the influence of military contractors on our politics, and she presented her experience based on her position on the Armed Services Committee. Military industrialists are very clever about how they deploy their manufacturing supply chain, and this helps drives support from key Senators and Congressmen. This does come under scrutiny for closed door, earmarking activities– but only when our legislators are focused on fiscal discipline. Currently, no one is watching the budget deficit, so our military-industrial complex is profiting greatly.
On the question of immigration, Claire reminded us that during her time in office, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill (with 68 votes) that would address most or all of the issues we now face– including closing loopholes and creating a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients. That bill was killed in the House by tea party Republicans. So, THAT bill is already written– and it could be acted on with a change in leadership in Washington.
A concern was raised about a unified Democratic party in light of the variety of Democratic presidential candidates and the debate series. She presented a thoughtful analysis and timeline of the thinning out of the candidates this year and reminded us all that we have the single most unifying factor sitting in the President’s office right now.
I know she has been out of the spotlight for just a little while and the ‘hardest working Senator’ in our nation deserves to relax a bit, but we sure appreciated her sharing her uniquely qualified perspective.
Senator McCaskill, it was a pleasure to hear you speak. Thank you!
— Mark Toenjes, WCD Member
