McCaskill Says "Momentum Shifting"

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill rallied in Springfield today, promising to be a moderate Senator who works with Republicans, while fighting for bread-and-butter issues like tax relief, veterans benefits and lower prescription drug prices.

Watch my KY3 News @ 10 report on McCaskill's visit HERE.

State Senate candidate Doug Harpool introduced McCaskill to a roaring crowd. McCaskill returned the favor calling Harpool, "the strongest and smartest State Senate candidate in the entire state."

In her speech, McCaskill took aim at pork-barrel spending by Republicans in power. She said earmarks on bills have grown from 1,400 a year to 14,000 a year. She also noted that the number of lobbyists have doubled since President Bush took office.

She also acknowledged that even if Democrats take back the U.S. Senate, the margin will still be close. "We need to work with each other," McCaskill told the crowd of about 200 at Parkview High School in Springfield.

She said she would support policies such as the elimination of the "death" or estate tax on family farmers, tax breaks for small businesses and first time homeowners, and the ability to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.

She also briefly touched on the war in Iraq, by referring to equipment and veterans benefits.

"My priority would be we need to get armor on our men before we pay Halliburton," McCaskill said, throwing red hot meat to the Democratic crowd.

But she also promised "a different set of priorities" than Sen. Jim Talent, including "the ability to hear you."

"The eyes of the nation are on us," McCaskill acknowleged. While calling all the national attention "annoying," McCaskill also urged supporters to work passionately to get out the vote over the next five days.

In an interview after the speech, McCaskill said she believes she is now ahead in her race against Sen. Talent. She said the momentum in the tight contest shifted about a week ago.

"There came a point and time when Missouri began rejecting the kind of campaign Senator Talent is running, which is focused on all personal character attacks as opposed to ideas," McCaskill said.

"We have focused on Sen. Talent's voting record. I think Missourians have figured out that somebody focused on a voting record is going to go out to Washington and find ways to make changes," McCaskill said.

When asked about the significance of President Bush's visit to Springfield, McCaskill said she wasn't sure if it would help or hurt Sen. Talent.

"When the President comes to the state, it is a state visit. It is not a visit to one area. Everyone in the state is going to realize that President Bush is coming because he wants to save Jim Talent. He wants to save him because he is an incredible supporter of President Bush in all of his policies," McCaskill said.

Showing the fine line McCaskill is attempting to walk, during her speech, she railed off the names of the big Republican headliners funneling into the state for Jim Talent - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush.
For the record, Cheney received the most thunderous boos from the crowd. McCaskill urged the crowd not to boo Bush, "because he is our President." But they booed anyway. "I told you not to boo," McCaskill playfully scolded.

"Most Missourians do not have confidence in President Bush. They believe this administration has had a great deal of incompetence. They do not have confidence in the way the war in Iraq is being waged. They want change," McCaskill said in an interview afterwards.

McCaskill also admitted she needed to do "a little bit better" in the Ozarks to win. "I'm not sure where I'm going to do a little better, but I just need to do a little better."

She pointed out that Sen. Talent has never won a statewide race by more than 1% of the vote.

Getting back to the big Bush visit:

"I'm not sure whether it will hurt or help. I just think it's interesting that Senator Talent has spent the whole campaign trying to distance himself from President Bush and then at the 11th hour President Bush arrives in state to help Senator Talent. I think that says something about what's going on in his campaign," McCaskill said.

When asked if she would use President Bush in any new final ads, she said no. "Whatever ads any campaign is going to have need to be in by early Friday. It's very difficult to change traffic during the weekend. We've aired enough ads with President Bush," she said.

A few Democratic sources say they believe momentum is on their side heading into the final few days. Democrats believe they have higher intensity levels, according to polling, but also say McCaskill's overall percentage is climbing.

Republicans have slammed McCaskill over the past week and a half with negative ads. The ads were meant to raise McCaskill's negative numbers. "It did, to some extent. But it also really hit his negatives too," said a Democrat. "She can probably pull out of that. He will have a much harder time with Bush coming into town and being an incumbent."