This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 29, 2010 - WASHINGTON - Expecting to be "an underdog" in her re-election bid, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., tried to put some distance between herself and the White House during a televised appearance on Sunday.
"I'm anticipating being an underdog in this [2012] election, and that means I'm going to have to work twice as hard -- which is OK with me," McCaskill said on Fox News Sunday.
While McCaskill does not yet have an announced Republican opponent, former U.S. Sen. Jim Talent and former state treasurer Sarah Steelman say they are considering a run. (Former state party chair Ann Wagner had been mentioned as a potential candidate, but on Monday she launched her bid for chair of the national Republican Party.
As Republicans have begun to focus on her re-election bid, McCaskill -- an early supporter of Barack Obama's successful candidacy for president -- has been focusing on fiscal and congressional reform, such as banning earmarks and limiting federal spending. Asked during Sunday's appearance which big issues separate her from White House positions, McCaskill ticked off a list of her votes that went against the Obama administration's position.
"My record of independence stretches back, frankly, for a long time," said McCaskill, "and I've got to make sure that Missourians know about that." She said she had voted against the White House on omnibus spending bills, comprehensive immigration reform and the second round of the "cash for clunkers" auto subsidy. She also opposes the House-passed "cap and trade" energy bill.
McCaskill, pressed to name a "conceptual area" in which she thinks Obama has been wrong, criticized the timing of the administration's decision last spring to shift the focus from economic stimulus to reforming health care.
"Moving into health care at that particular time I think was very difficult," she said, because Americans were feeling the sting of the economic downturn and unemployment. "I think many of those things didn't get the focus they should have at that point in time."
Revealing another difference from the administration on tax policy, McCaskill said she would support a compromise on extending the Bush-era tax cuts to people who earn up to a million dollars a year -- rather than the $250,000 upper level backed by the White House. "I think we should draw the line in the sand for millionaires," McCaskill said, reflecting a position now advocated by several Senate Democrats, led by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
The Missouri senator said she hopes the Obama administration will find the identities of those who leaked classified documents to WikiLeaks, and "go after them with the force of law." And she also accused some Republicans of "playing politics and hiding behind Sen. [John] Kyl's skirts" in trying to delay a Senate vote on ratifying the New Start nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Considered a key swing vote, Kyl argues that there is not enough time for the Senate to consider the treaty fully.
McCaskill said some Republicans were trying to damage Obama's credibility by holding up a vote on the START treaty until next year. Missouri Sen.-elect Roy Blunt, a Republican from Springfield, was among 10 incoming Republican senators who have pressed to delay a vote on START until after the new Congress convenes in January.