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McCaskill speaks out against Clintons
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| Contributor | The Sunset Provision |
| Last Edited | The Sunset Provision Jan 29, 2008 03:26pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - St. Louis Post Dispatch |
| News Date | Tuesday, January 29, 2008 09:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The deepening hostility between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama played out in Missouri on Thursday, when Sen. Claire McCaskill suggested that Democrats could lose her state in November if Clinton is the nominee.
In a conference call arranged by the Obama campaign, McCaskill — who has endorsed Obama — said Clinton "is the only thing that I can see right now that excites the very conservative base of the Republican Party in Missouri. ... And it worries me whether we could prevail in Missouri if she is the nominee."
McCaskill's strong words drew a rebuke from Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., a co-chairman of Clinton's Missouri campaign.
"Not only do I not agree with it, I disagree with the value of issuing that kind of statement," he said. "It makes me sick to have to counter a senator who I worked very hard to get elected, and who I will help get elected again. When we do that kind of thing, we're doing damage to the party."
In the call with reporters, McCaskill also took on Bill Clinton, accusing the former president of spreading untruths about Obama in his zeal to get his wife elected.
McCaskill said she expected Bill Clinton to be aggressive. "But the one thing I'd say is that because of the larger megaphone he has as a former president, he needs to be very careful with the truth. This is not a time to play fast and loose with the facts," she said.
"The fact that he has shaded things and tried to manipulate the facts in a way that is patently unfair, I think that is frankly flat wrong and I think it's demeaning," she added.
Cleaver suggested McCaskill's remarks do the party little good heading toward November.
"Winning Missouri, to be honest, is going to be difficult." he said. "I don't think it's intentional, but it's nevertheless dangerous to demonize our own candidates."
The intensity of the Missouri contest reflects the growing rancor in the Democratic race as the campaign moves toward critical votes on Feb. 5 in Missouri, Illinois |
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