McCaskill "Doesn't Doubt" Clinton Win In PA

LOWERS EXPECTATIONS

THEN DOES SURROGATE BOOSTING
CLINTON: "I'M A FIGHTER"
MCCASKILL: "WE'VE GOT PLENTY OF FIGHTING . . . AND FRANKLY WE"RE NOT GETTING ANYTHING DONE."

Sen. Claire McCaskill lowered expectations for Barack Obama's performance in the Pennsylvania primary later this month, telling Hardball's Chris Matthews she "doesn't doubt" Hillary Clinton will win the battleground commonwealth on April 22nd.

"I think this is a very difficult race for Barack Obama but he's doing what I did in Missouri," McCaskill said of Obama's recent campaigning. "I lost a race in Missouri and I got out on an RV and went around the state and shook hands and he's doing that retail where people get to touch him, and listen to him and ask him questions, and that kind of stuff flies around rural communities," she said.

McCaskill also took on Clinton's most recent call to arms that "she's a fighter."

"There's nothing wrong with working for what you believe in and working for it hard but frankly we've got plenty of fighting right now. We specialize in fighting in Washington D.C. right now. It's what we do best. And frankly we're not getting anything done," McCaskill said.

More from McCaskill's Hardball performance:

**McCaskill said Obama did "very well" in suburban St. Louis and Kansas City and with independent voters, regardless of their race. "By an overwhelming margin, they chose Barack Obama," McCaskill said of independents in Missouri.

**When Matthews pointed out Pennsylvania's closed primary, McCaskill acknowledged Obama's tough road ahead. "That's why it's going to be tough. I think the Clinton campaign has said they're unbeatable in Pennsylvania."

**"If these people of Pennsylvania will give him a chance and listen to him, I think they'll be surprised how much they'll relate to him both as a leader and as a person," McCaskill said.

**"This is a guy who wants to get people together where we can find some common ground. He's not somebody who demonizes people who have a different opinion, he just comes at it a different way. I've watched him do it," she added.

**"He won't get all of it done and it won't get done right away and he's a realist about that . . . and people need to understand he's not going to tell them things he can't do," McCaskill said.