McCaskill Says Clinton Should Move Aside If She Doesn't Win Ohio and Texas

COMMENTS ON KOSTER, NIXON DURING SPRINGFIELD ENERGY CONFERENCE

Senator and super-surrogate Claire McCaskill suggested Hillary Clinton should drop out of the race for president and unite behind Barack Obama if she doesn't win both the Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4th.

McCaskill called Obama's 10-straight primary victories an amazing accomplishment, and said if Clinton was in Obama's position at this point, the pressure would grow for him to drop out.

"What would America be saying right now if Senator Clinton had won 10 primaries in a row and had the popular vote, the delegate count, and had won the most states, had won the last 10 primaries by an average of 30 points, what would America be saying," McCaskill asked Friday afternoon, before answering her own question. "America would be saying its time to unite behind the nominee, Senator Clinton. But that has happened and we have not yet started hearing those kinds of calls for unity behind Senator Obama," she said.

McCaskill declined to go as far as to say Clinton should drop out, but strongly hinted that March 4th should be her last shot. "I think if in fact he wins Texas or Ohio, I think its time for our party to come together and I think the math is very difficult," McCaskill said.

She also cited former President Clinton's recent statements about his wife's need to win those states in order to secure the nomination. But Missouri's junior Senator also left open the possibility of another round. "Now if its close, then we go on to the next round, because if its close there, he's going to still be ahead in the delegate count because she has to win by such a large margin to ever get back to the point where she's competing on an even keel in terms of delegate count."

McCaskill was also asked about Missouri's Governor's race and the 3-way Democratic primary for Attorney General.

ON JAY NIXON: "The Republican Party has a primary. Sometimes that's an advantage and sometimes its a disadvantage. But I think in this instance, we are united . . . I think he's going to be a terrific Governor. I think he can win the hearts and minds of Missourians through his campaign, but he's got a lot of work to do."

ON CHRIS KOSTER: "I think anyone seeing the light and becoming a Democrat makes them a credible candidate. I don't know exactly how that primary is going to turn out and I've worked very hard to stay absolutely neutral in all the primaries and certainly the primary for Attorney General is no exception. I think all three candidates are grace."

So, McCaskill doesn't endorse in primaries unless Barack Obama is running and thinks primaries can be a disadvantage unless she's doing the challenging;) We nudge playfully, because its Friday . . .