Is this how a Democrat wins? By distancing from the party?

[madfloridian]

I am not familiar with this situation, ran across it on a search for something about Hillary Clinton. This puzzles me. It simply does not make sense. Is that how we win?

http://www.columbiatribune.com/2006/Mar/20060305News005.asp

‘I’ve got some experience saying no to my party’s leaders when I thought it was important.’
— Missouri Auditor Claire McCaskill

"Fast-forward to 2006, and the situation is far different. This time McCaskill has come to her party’s rescue by taking on U.S. Sen. Jim Talent and, in a nifty attempt at political alchemy, is hoping to transform the tensions of yesteryear into the glow of independence in her latest race.

Speaking with reporters, McCaskill said her challenge to Holden proves she won’t have any trouble saying no to Democrats in Washington such as Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Howard Dean.

"I’ve got some experience saying no to my party’s leaders when I thought it was important," she said. "And I think that should reassure Missourians that I’ll be thinking about them in Washington, as opposed to toeing a party line."

So Claire is running as a Democrat who will not go along with Democrats. Why?

[WildEyedLiberal]

1. Because a LOT of Missouri is freepola land

I love Missouri. Well, correction: I love St. Louis. I've been to the Ozark region of Missouri, however - I saw more confederate flags there than I did in Virginia, which was the actual Confederate capital.

Point being, it's a red state. I don't think I agree with her comments, although they're odd - Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and Howard Dean? You'd be hard pressed to hear those three agree on anything (maybe Ted and Dean, but Hillary? Not likely).

At any rate, I think McCaskill is from a political family, so I think she has name recognition, which hopefully will be enough to push her over Talent. I got a fundraising letter from her today because I donated to her via KAP, and she bashed Bush pretty hard, so I guess she's just taking a more "maverick" tack with the general voters. It's sad that in states like Missouri Democrats don't feel safe to freely run as Democrats. :(

I think her name recognition more than anything will put her over the top, though. Missourians are free to correct any misconceptions I have.

[depakid]

3. It didn't look like SHE mentioned

Dean, Kennedy, and Hillary- what it looked like from the (poorly written) article was that her opponent mentioned those names. All she said were words to the effect of not toeing the line for the leadership.

Whatever. Looks like empty campaign rhetoric to me.

[WildEyedLiberal]

6. Maybe. But you'd rather have Talent?

She's running in a conservative state. If looking like an "independent" helps her win, more power to her. Let's get her in there, then we can worry about how she votes.

Also I stand corrected, she didn't mention those three Dems.

[SteelBird]

17. McCaskill also ran for governor two years ago and narrowly lost

I think she's got a great shot. Yeah I see Missouri and Pennsylvania as being similiar, they both have a solid union background, and they both have two reliable democratic metro areas, Pa's got Philly and Pittsburgh, and Missouri has Kansas City and St. Louis. It's politics what she's doing, politicans distance themselves from their party a lot. Missouri is an interesting state, part southern and part midwestern. Virginia has its parts that are down right southern but parts like the suburbs of DC that are far removed from the confederacy and are diverse as many big cities.

[newyawker99]

19. Hi SteelBird!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[WildEyedLiberal]

29. Yeah, I canvassed for her in 2004

I went to St. Louis to volunteer for the Kerry campaign and got to hand out McCaskill lit as well. I was sorta nervous about that, since I knew I could talk up Kerry to a stranger and explain why they should vote for him, but I didn't know anything about McCaskill, being from Illinois. It's a pity she lost to Blunt, but at the same time, having a D in the senate in Missouri would more than make up for that.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[TheDebbieDee]

2. Unfortunately, outside of Kansas City and St. Louis...........

Missouri is just too RED now for a Democratic candidate to fully embrace the left.

In order to have a chance at winning, she's got to run as a conservative Democrat.

BTW, I will be volunteering to work for her election campaign in the next couple of months. Wish us luck!

[WildEyedLiberal]

4. Good luck!

I'm an Illinoisan with no Senate race up for grabs, so I'm adopting Claire. Hope you don't mind :D

[NoFederales]

12. Thanks; glad to have help

I am a displaced Illinoian. Actually, Claire McCaskill's independence is just fine. What defines a Democrat? Do you have to embrace the left to be a good Democrat? I believe McCaskell's issues are people oriented and I would define "people-oriented issues" as the bedrock of democratic principles. When Democratic platform planks are mere lip service (at best) to people-oriented issues, you need to step forward and remind everyone about bedrock principles. Jim Talent is a GOP mongering whore who has to be defeated because nothing he supports is about the welfare of people's lives.

NoFederales

[usregimechange]

5. Because Democrats vote for things like the Patriot Act/ Alito!

[MoJoWorkin]

7. She is not fooling me. She IS the old-line party backstabber

Holden looked weak, so she ran against him (with the party machine state establishment behind HER). She adopted the Repug talking point (LIES) about Holden, and she also flip-flopped on a woman's right to choose in order to get elected. All that and she lost, and also lost any respect I could have for her. There was a way to beat Holden in the primary, and that WASN'T it. Holden was just too nice a guy--like Carter, but he was coming back and I believe he just might have pulled it off, if it had not been for the divisive/nasty primary that Claire ran. A lot of democrats were turned off by what she did.

I will hold my nose and vote for her, but she IS NO DIFFERENT than most of those BeltWay Democrats who will bend with the wind in order to perpetuate their little empires.

Oh yes. I DO live in the hell-hole known as the home of Ashcroft and Blunt and kingdom of fundies everywhere---Springfield, MO. I knew Holden, and he did NOT deserve what the State Party, and Claire dished out to him. I had been a Democratic committeewoman, until I finally got tired of beating my head against a wall. I was unable to fight the state machine. I have seen what goes on "inside" the committee structure, and it hasn't been pretty.

[emulatorloo]

8. My Senator always toes the party line - He never thinks about the people

He never thinks about the people of the state, as far as I can tell.

I write him several times a month, begging him to think for himself.

The problem with this congress is that it is all about toeing the party line regardless of the consequences to America. The majority party in the congress supports Bush in most every ill-conceived and dangerous program he comes up with.

So in a way it is nice to hear rhetoric like this. Constituents over party.

PS my senator is Chuck Grassley.

[karynnj]

10. Great point

The only way we won't have a nasty partisan Senate is when people are willing to vote as they believe or as their constituents vote. Senator Kerry referenced the comment by a Republican that he had never seen anything like Voinivich refusing to approve Bolton against the Republican line. Kerry's point was that that type of action was not unusual on either side when he entered the Senate. If no one deviates from party line, what is the purpose of a deliberative body if no one really listens to the debate.

[OzarkDem]

9. Isn't she a DINO?

So I've heard from friends and family back home. IIRC her husband is an influential Republican.

[mdmc]

11. In Missouri, yes

she will get along with democrats... like Bayh and Leiberman... just another part of our big tent. I would suspect that true progressives like Dennis Kucinich might not get elected too often in Missouri.
I bet that Kerry, Clinton, and Dean are very unpopular in Missouri.

The bottom line, this dem is better then her opponent.

[madfloridian]

13. Repubs are running from their leaders because they are crooks...

and incompetent and have been proven so over and over. At least many of them are. So now Democrats are running from people who stand up and fight against that incompetence and corruption, and their own Democrats run from them to get elected.

What a crazy world we live in. Couldn't she just not have mentioned those three at all? Couldn't she just have avoided them?

So our own Democrats are avoiding the good guys to appeal to the ones who refuse to admit the bad guys have ruined this country. That makes sense.

[DrGonzoLives]

14. She's portraying herself as a maverick

or someone who is independent, which always sounds good. Frankly, anyone that can take down that idiot Talent is fine with me.

[madfloridian]

15. Latest polls have GOP down even further...but she runs from Democrats.

That is just hard for me to understand. Why distance from your own party to reassure the ones who party's approval is so far down.

Just does not make sense.

[Radical Activist]

18. I like people who think for themselves.

So do most voters. I'm sure she's also worried about being blamed for everything the most extreme liberals do, which is one of the right wings favorite tactics.

[InsultComicDog]

16. Lieberman's made a career out of it

[The Magistrate]

20. As A Matter Of Curiousity, Ma'am

How is this different from the frequent cries here for figures who will stand up against "beltway Dems" and "Party leadership"?

[madfloridian]

22. Did you notice the names of the Dems she would avoid?

It is like she picked names that are controversial among right wingers.

How is it different? Very different indeed.

I am not ashamed or embarrassed to be connected with our Democrats, she is.

I am rather surprised you asked. It is like our Democrats are still acting afraid of each other and afraid of their own shadow.

She should never have been apologetic for those Democrats.

[The Magistrate]

25. Of Course, Ma'am

A great many persons here disparrage Sen. Clinton, and so that is hardly a good example. A number of persons here even consider Gov. Dean objectionable on some counts from a left perspective. No comments by Sen. Kennedy have emerged, to my knowledge, disparraging the activities of either the D.C.C.C. or the D.S.C.C. in influencing slating, which is a frequent source of disparraging comment here. The thing remains the same in principal, to my view, Ma'am, and even has a degree of overlap in substance.

[madfloridian]

26. Not sure what you said.

.

[Cocoa]

21. happens all the time

I'm independent, I don't do everything my bosses in Washington D.C. tell me to do, etc.

It's one of the things that's going to work against the GOP big-time this fall, they're going to pay for their dumb loyalty to Bush.

[madfloridian]

23. If she is running as a Democrat, why isn't she proud to be one?

Why did so many get so defensive about this? She is a Democrat. Why in the world are our Democrats to the point that they are feeling they must distance themselves?

Bush is below 40% approval, yet she is distancing from Democrats.

[Odin2005]

24. In Red states you probably need to distance yourself from the party.

The reason many Red states are red is because of social issues, the Republicans need social issues to get people to vote against thier economic interest. Asking red-state Dem to tow the party line on social issues is asking that Dem canidate to commit political suicide.

[madfloridian]

27. Well, that means they must sound and act Republican.

Which is why our party is often giving Bush his agenda. The Republicans don't run away from their own party, they run from Democrats.

[Cocoa]

28. they're going to run from Bush this year

they've already started.

[Hippo_Tron]

30. There's a difference between being a maverick and being a Zell Miller

If you look at Gene Taylor of Mississippi, he's on pretty shaky ground with dem party leadership. That being said, he also comes to the floor and calls Bush a liar. The guy also beats any challenger that comes his way at least by 10 points despite the fact that his district used to be represented by Trent Lott and goes for Bush by very high precentages.

If Claire is going to defy party leadership, that's fine. I hope she just defies leadership of both parties, not the dems.