DVR Rules; Doubts About Claire

The first time I caught the ad was during our 10 p.m. newscast Wednesday night, which I'm just catching up to tonight (via DVR, the greatest recent invention on earth). It features Claire McCaskill at a kitchen table listing the things she believes in.

"This election is not about dividing people with labels . . . "

"Let me tell you what I believe in . . ."

"The Death Penalty"

"Our Troops In Iraq"

"Traditional Marriage"

"Stem Cell Research"

"No Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants"

"You know I'll always take an independent approach."

From that alone, you'd think McCaskill was a Republican. She's attempting to point out that she's not a weak, wimpy Democrat susceptible to liberal interests.

Her latest problem is that she got caught this week making a comment that implies she thinks the President acted like an out-of-touch elitist, racist. It's devastating because it goes against a public image she's been trying to cultivate as a non-partisan centrist.

The core question is this: Did the President not respond well enough to the victims of Hurricane Katrina because they were poor and black? -OR- Was it just a blind failure of the government because of a giant, unorganized bureaucracy?

That can and should be debated.

But some Democrats are privately beginning to worry about McCaskill's chances. Of course, they would never go on the record about it.

One tells me this: "She's the only Democrat in a battleground state losing ground in the latest polls. That comment she made was just stupid. This isn't a good time period for her. I'm starting to wonder if she can do this."