Wes Clark: "You won't hear the sound of "maybe" in Claire's voice."

Claire McCaskill

Candidate for Senate

Missouri

 

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For the past five years, we've tried one-party government in America. And what has it gotten us? Troops being sent into battle without the proper equipment to keep them safe. A President who believes he is above the law. Fiscal recklessness that is saddling our children with tens of thousands of dollars in debt. A Republican culture of corruption that has yielded investigations, indictments, and resignations.

That must change. We must fight to end the Republican dominance of government to get America back on track.

My friend, I have fought on the front lines in war and on the front lines of leadership, and I can tell you that we have a fighter and a leader in Claire McCaskill. Claire is running for U.S. Senate in Missouri, and she needs our help.

From the time she was first elected as a tough county prosecutor, fighting to make her local community safer, to her current role as Missouri's State Auditor where she has been a fiscal watchdog for taxpayers, Claire McCaskill has stood on principle and conviction.

On important issues like research into lifesaving cures, taking care of our troops, helping our seniors with the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs, and protecting our solemn commitment to Social Security, Claire McCaskill speaks clearly.

Unlike her opponent, you won't hear the sound of "maybe" in her voice.

And at a time when so much needs to be fixed, we can't afford 6 more years of "maybe." We need strength, we need independence, and we need clarity and conviction.

We need Claire McCaskill.

But just as much as we need Claire, she also needs you -- today. The Washington special interests and enemies of progress have been pouring money into the campaign coffers of her opponent. They're opening their checkbooks at an alarming rate to try to maintain the status quo.

Please join me in supporting Claire in her run for the U.S. Senate so we can have a fighter on our side in Washington, someone with strength and independence who will stand up and fight for our values and shake up the status quo in Washington.

Claire McCaskill: In Her Own Words

Claire McCaskill

Candidate for Senate

Missouri

 

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Leaders must stand with moral clarity and the courage of their convictions. Recently, I voiced my support for the Missouri stem cell ballot initiative because I believe we should be promoting hope and investing in research for lifesaving cures for diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. To me, replacing the pain and suffering so many Missourians endure on a daily basis with hope that they will one day have the cure for what ails them is a moral imperative.

Jim Talent took to the floor of the United States Senate to join with extreme right wing special interests in stating his opposition to the most promising stem cell research, SCNT, which the Missouri ballot initiative expressly promotes. And in doing so, Jim Talent affirmed his belief that we should outlaw the promising scientific research that the Missouri Initiative seeks to protect.

7/21/06 - General Clark in Missouri to support Claire McCaskill's Senate campaign.

9/19/06 - McCaskill recruits Gen. Clark

McCaskill recruits Gen. Clark

September 19, 2006 By Matthew | Arch City Chronicle

The Bush administration's prosecution of the Iraq war and its handling of the needs of members of the military, active and inactive, were the topics of the day at Veterans for Claire's final stop.

Retired General Wesley Clark and State Auditor Claire McCaskill spoke to a group of veterans, many wearing McCaskill stickers, at American Legion Memorial Post 103 in Mapelwood.

McCaskill thanked the assembled veterans for their service, saying she respected the sacrifices of all veterans, including Rep. Jack Jackson (R-89), a retired Marine colonel, who she said had been publicly criticizing her.

McCaskill said the Bush administration has not lived up to its obligations by failing to adequately supply the military and by cutting heath care benefits for veterans.

"Senator Talent and this administration have turned their back on veterans," said McCaskill.

McCaskill and Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and a candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2004, focused specifically on Senator Jim Talent's (R) support for the administration's policy.

McCaskill's said Talent had voted 23 times against veterans, including a 2006 vote against an amendment that would have made funding for veterans' health care mandatory. The amendment would be paid for by restoring the pre-2001 top rate for income over $1 million, an amendment only two republicans voted for, Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Arlen Specter (R-PA).

Calling Talent a "follower", Clark, criticized the Senator for his support of the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq while failing to adequately support the military.

In yet another reference to the only Missourian to be elected President, Harry Truman, Clark contrasted Talent's record with Truman's efforts as a U.S. Senator to crack down on war profiteering during World War II. As a democratic senator going up against a democratic president, Franklin Roosevelt, it took leadership and courage to do the right thing, said Clark.

Clark said he would pity Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld if he were to have to face "Senator Claire McCaskill".

Clark said he has seen many "false patriots" since the attacks of September 11th (a term the Talent campaign has criticized McCaskill for using). Adding that, "the flag doesn't belong to any political party," Clark said too many people pin a flag in their lapel and then vote against the interests of the military.

"What we need in Washington are real patriots," said Clark.

Clark, talking about his own experience being wounded in Vietnam, emphasized the importance of helping veterans learn to deal with their wartime experience. Remembering his own anger and guilt and that accompanied his wartime service, and knowing the stories of some of those returning from Iraq, he would like to see a program that counseled all vets returning from Iraq.

Clark spoke of his own transition from an officer to a politician, and a Democrat at that. He cited his long experience in the military and his time in both the Ford administration–where he worked with Rumsfeld and other prominent Republicans–and the Clinton administration. Clark said he found that Democrats were willing to listen when those in uniform spoke up.

A conversation he had with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she served as national security advisor in the first Bush administration seemed to cement his views that the Republican party didn't understand the role of the military. He cited their positive view of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a perception of the role of military combat as a foreign policy tool rather than a means of last resort.

Despite a perception of the military and veterans as an easy Republican vote, Clark said there needs to be a hard look at the Democratic party. He has certainly decided where he is waging his campaign and for whom.

"We need [McCaskill] in that fight and we are going to put her there," said Clark.

9/19/06 - Veterans' Rally with Claire McCaskill, St. Louis MO @ 12:30PM CDT

About Claire McCaskill

Claire McCaskill

Candidate for Senate

Missouri

 

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Claire McCaskill has spent all of her life in Missouri. She was born in Rolla and raised in Houston, Missouri, where her father William worked at the McCaskill & Sons feed mill. The family later moved to Lebanon, hometown of her mother, Betty.

Claire attended Hickman High School in Columbia, where her mother became Columbia’s first woman city council member. She remained in Columbia after high school and graduated from University of Missouri undergraduate and law school and later clerked for the Missouri Court of Appeals in Kansas City.

Claire served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1983 to 1988 where she was a leader on criminal justice issues, increasing sentences for repeat violent criminals and earning the Outstanding Legislator Award from the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys in 1987.

Claire was the first woman ever to be elected Jackson County Prosecutor. During her term, she put more criminals behind bars than any other Missouri prosecutor; established a special Domestic Violence Unit to combat domestic violence and child abuse; was recognized nationally as a leader in the war on meth; and created one of AmericaÂ’s first Drug Courts.

As State Auditor, Claire revolutionized her office, turning it into a determined watchdog over taxpayers' money. She made state government more accountable to the people it serves, uncovering millions of dollars in wasteful spending and exposing inefficient government practices. Her audits uncovered education dollars wasted on bureaucracy rather than properly spent on classroom learning, and advocated ways to save millions in the Medicaid program designed to reduce the cost of medicine for everyday Missourians.

Claire is married to Joseph Shepard, a St. Louis businessman. Together they have a blended family of seven children and one grandchild: Benjamin, 30, Carl, 27, Marilyn, 25, Michael, 23, Austin, 18, Maddie, 16, Lily, 13, and Victoria, 1.

Claire is a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jefferson City and St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church in St. Louis.