Posted on 11/09/2006 6:34:52 PM PST by Graybeard58
Senator-elect says she might need to “knock some heads” if respect and bipartisanship aren’t watchwords in capital.
ST. LOUIS | Senator-elect Claire McCaskill had a message for Democratic leaders Wednesday.
“I just want to make sure no one out there takes this election as a mandate,” she said in an interview with The Kansas City Star. “There is no mandate in our country right now. Our country is very divided. We need to be respectful of the other party and try to work together. If I’ve got to raise a ruckus about that (with fellow senators), I will.”
Fueled by just an hour’s sleep and equal parts adrenaline and caffeine, McCaskill was candid about her concerns that Democrats might start to “swagger” after their stunning victories Tuesday and that she might need “to knock some heads.”
She emphasized she would work across party lines, even at the risk of offending Democratic leaders.
“My mandate is to be independent,” she said at a press conference the morning after her victory over Republican Sen. Jim Talent. “That’s what I campaigned on, that I would stand up to anyone and anything, including my own party, to try to accomplish something. I have always been independent. It has cost me at times. Other times it has helped me.”
McCaskill’s 42,000-vote victory over Talent could have been a key in helping Democrats claim control of the Senate. They picked up five new seats and await the outcome in Virginia, where Democrat James Webb narrowly leads Republican Sen. George Allen. At worst, Democrats will hold 50 seats.
But McCaskill’s success came at some personal cost, and she hopes her race serves as a cautionary tale.
“They spent millions of dollars attacking my character and my family,” she told The Star. “I hope it is a lesson learned to all candidates in the future. People don’t want that kind of campaigning in Missouri. If it was ever going to work, it would have worked this year.”
She was in demand Wednesday — up with the sun and shepherded from one interview to another by a bedraggled crew of aides for a round of local and network interviews. “You guys haven’t slept either,” she said at one point.
McCaskill is a media attraction and the toast of her party because she showed that a Democrat could win in conservative Middle America with views on issues such as abortion and stem-cell research that defy conventional political wisdom.
It was a strategy born of losing the race for governor in 2004, largely because she neglected rural voters. This time she plunged headlong into campaigning in politically conservative strongholds like Springfield. There was really no other way for her to defeat Talent — and it paid off.
“I knew I wasn’t going to win out there,” said McCaskill, who grew up in rural Missouri, “but I knew I had to make sure that more people understood what my values were.”
And she said Democrats should take note that kitchen table issues such as health care and college costs were every bit as important, if not more so, to rural voters as the “social wedge issues” that have thwarted so many Democrats in the past.
“Everyone should realize there’s more to talk about in rural America than just the issues the Republicans have been talking about,” she said. “We made a mistake ceding that ground to them.”
McCaskill said her victory was a boon to Missouri Democrats, who have “been in the desert and this is a long drink of water,” and it restored the state’s unique role on the national political chessboard. She predicted Missouri would once again be a pivotal player in presidential politics.
“We were on the precipice of being a red state and losing our vaunted status as a bellwether state,” she said. “I think we’re now firmly back in the swing state category.”
A former Jackson County prosecutor and currently the state auditor, McCaskill said she is interested in serving on both the Senate Judiciary and Government Reform committees.
“I’ve been able to arm-wrestle some bureaucracies in Missouri,” she said. “I know a lot about federal programs. I know how badly they behave. It’s not very sexy, but … the GAO (Government Accountability Office) is going to love me as a senator. My office is actually going to read their audits.”
She said she sees potential philosophical allies in Democratic senators from the Midwest and in Republicans like Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, often a political maverick, and moderate Susan Collins of Maine.
Those encounters will come soon enough. Until then, she has a long-planned vacation with her husband in a few days to an “undisclosed location.” As for the rest of Wednesday, Missouri’s newest, but extremely weary-looking senator said, “I’ve got a serious appointment with a bed.”
I hope she means it and sticks by it.
As time goes on, the chance of those things both happening becomes vanishingly small.
I hope she gets on the Judiciary Committee. That way if she wants to vote against conservative nominees, she will have to think twice about affecting her race for reelection.
Senator-elect says she might need to “knock some heads” if respect and bipartisanship aren’t watchwords in capital.
And it didn't hurt that you had the dead vote, the felon vote and all the ACORN bogus registrations to get you into office, you cheating liar. If it weren't for the welfare underclass, you wouldn't be going to D.C. to "knock heads." When Nancy Pelosi tell you to jump, you'll say, "How high?" just like the rest of the socialist sheep.
yes , her campaign was sweet and light . yep ,the second dirtiest player in the senate races wants to reach out. don't bet on it . but the local media will carry her phony message.get used to these lies all the way to cheney impeachment hearings .
She sounds big and brave right now, but as soon as Hillary, and Kennedy, Carry, and a few others take her to the wood shed a few times, she will be right on the band wagon with them....
She'll be too busy curing parkinson's disease to be any trouble to the republicans...
Webb made a similar statement today. Poleski is going to have to appease the Zell-democrats and the Hell-domocrats. IMO she'll end up offending both sides: splitting the party. Get your popcorn ready.
She was talking about her fellow Democrats. I'd pay $50 to see her knock Hillary and Pelosi's heads.
"Fueled by just an hour’s sleep and equal parts adrenaline and caffeine, McCaskill was candid about her concerns that Democrats might start to “swagger” after their stunning victories Tuesday and that she might need “to knock some heads.”
Did she take even one dollar from any of them for her campaign? If so they own her. Just ask Baron Hill.
Hitlery will have her in line in short order.
She will fall in line fast enough when she gets a look at that basement office she will get if she doesnt fall in line. She wont even last until she gets into office.
Republicans do the same thing.
Orientation for new members is being introduced to the leadership and being told "If you would like to be on any committees, you will vote the way we tell you. If not, we have many many toilets and most of your superiors miss intentionally!"
I like the ladies guts but I bet she will have her spirit broken for her in the Senate. Hang in there, and don't change, please.
She'll fall in line with the rest of the Rat sheep.
Doubtful - this is nothing but PR. They're already starting to smirk and swagger a little too much, and letting their true faces show as a result, and now they're getting some pushback. That's why McCaskill's saying this, and that's also why they ordered AP to print that story about how Pelosi's going to stop Conyers' impeachment crusade, and why Rangel's ducking and weaving on his tax hikes.
They'll pretend to pull back for now, wait for the media to figure out a way to give them some more cover, and then they'll be back in all their obnoxious lack of glory.
Thanks, I needed a good laugh
Okay Claire, didn't someone tell you the election's over and you won?
I can just see Dingy Harry reading this: "Oh yeah? Listen when I get thru with that Claire; that little pipsqeak Freshwoman, I'll straighten her out fast. If she wants a future here, when I say jump, she'll be saying, yes sir, 'how high'.
In your dreams Claire Baby. Have another glass of Kool Aid.
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