Sunday, January 13, 2008

"I Get The Fierce Urgency Of Now . . .

. . . I Feel It In My Bones"
***MCCASKILL ENDORSES OBAMA***
"I HAD TO GET DOWN ON THE FIELD."
Citing his "bold" agenda for change, and the urging of her 18-year-old daughter, Senator Claire McCaskill endorsed Barack Obama for president Sunday morning in a telephone conference call with reporters.

"I get the fierce urgency of now. I feel it in my bones," McCaskill said, while listing the reasons she decided to endorse before Missouri's February 5th primary. "He's a gush of fresh air. He is different," she added.

"This was not an easy decision for me," McCaskill said, citing the many women across Missouri and the country who are supporting Obama's chief rival, Hillary Clinton. "I have the deepest respect for Hillary Clinton. She's a strong woman and a strong leader."

Still, McCaskill referenced Obama's ability to "work the middle ground" and become "one of the greatest president's in our history" as reasons she picked Obama over Clinton.

She said Obama's ability to give a soaring speech was just "whip cream and a cherry" on the cake. "He has incredible intellectual heft, with a wise soul," McCaskill said. She said Obama proved that to her during their work together on ethics reform legislation. Obama held a conference call with freshman Senators, asking for their support of the legislation and warning that many senior members of the body would subtly try to stop it, according to McCaskill. "He was right, there was a lot of wink, wink, nod, nod," McCaskill said. "I watched Barack Obama stand in the well and refuse to back down on that," she said.

On Meet the Press this morning, Clinton downplayed Obama's ethics reforms. McCaskill said that was unfair. "To belittle that legislation is not appropriate, it was substantive, real and hard-fought," she said.

Obama also responded to Clinton: "She started this campaign saying she was going to make history, but is spending a lot of time rewriting it."

Previously, McCaskill had said she would stay on the sidelines and let Missourians decide their pick without an explicit endorsement. But she said her 18-year-old urged her to "get out of the bleachers." "I had to get down on the field," McCaskill said.

Obama called it a "wonderful honor" to win McCaskill's endorsement. He cited her work on veterans benefits as a reason McCaskill pursues government "based on common-sense, not ideology." Obama also said McCaskill's endorsement gives his candidacy "enormous credibility" with Missouri voters. "She's a wonderful messenger for our agenda of change," Obama said.

McCaskill said she wasn't sure what kind of impact her announcement would have. "I have no idea if this will have any impact in Missouri," McCaskill said. She said voters would ultimately make their own judgement, but added that she could help Missourians get to know Obama -- because a compressed schedule won't allow the candidate to do that for himself.

Still, Obama signaled he would campaign in the state. "I'm looking forward to getting to Missouri before February 5th," Obama said.





1 comment:

Admin said...

It looks like McCaskill is appearing in a Obama:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/CGCH2