Claire McCaskill is out doing damage control on the sinking Obama approval ratings.

Check this out.

 “The bar for change was set inordinately high by the tone of the presidential campaign,” said McCaskill, an early supporter of Obama’s who endorsed him over then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in January 2008.

First let's pause to remember that Claire was the backchannel to the Obama campaign before her "story" about her daughter making her come out for Obama.  She's been in his camp all along.  In fact, it's fair to say her "support" for Obama was a carefully calculated political move lacking in any real emotion, designed solely to support the Obama campaign when they needed it.  In other words, Claire used her daughter to spread a false story about the youth support for Obama. 

But it's not all Claire's fault.  A man who claims he can stop the rise of the oceans and heal our planet has to take some responsibility for high expectations.

Of course, that isn't as amusing as Claire's statements that the Republicans have been blocking progress. She's in the Senate.  Was she not aware that Obama had 60 voters, a large majority in the House, and of course the presidency?

If Republicans have been so good at blocking Obama, why does he have a stimulus, the healthcare bill, and now a financial strangulation bill?  The Democrats have had the votes they needed on bill after bill, but they've been afraid to push it through in a timely manner precisely because the American Public didn't want them to. 

A real reporter would ask – what exactly did you not get because of
Republican obstructionism? 

The truth is, with an election coming up, the public stands poised to punish the Democrats for passing legislation they didn't want.  McCaskill's statements on this are the joke.

“It’s harder, when you’re trying to govern and do big, hard, complicated public policy questions, to communicate in a way that’s easily consumable by the public — especially with the way the media is today.”

Let me explain what Claire is really saying.

You people are too stupid to realize how great and wonderful we Democrats have been.

We hear you Claire.  Loud and clear.

The only reason the news was reported in the Post Dispatch was because reporters on a conference call with McCaskill asked about Obama coming to town, and McCaskill was forced to admit it.  The call was about her trip to Afghanistan – the fundraiser was a non sequiter, and it’s clear that this blog’s reporting drove the story.

But something is not cleared up.  I wasn’t on the call, and notes for it don’t appear on line, but there are hints.  According to Jake Wagman of the Post Dispatch, McCaskill said Obama is coming to raise funds both for McCaskill and for Robin Carnahan.  Now there are joint fundraising committees between Senators, but this isn’t one of them.  This is a joint fundraising for McCaskill and the DSCC. 

The first $4,800 of each donation will go to the campaign of Democratic
Sen. Claire McCaskill, who is up for election in 2012, said event
organizer Matt Teter. The rest of the money will go to the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee, Teter said.

The $4800 is the primary and general fund maximum donations.  The only way to get more then that is to write a big check to the DSCC, which may or may not give more money to Robin Carnahan over the campaign.   The "Show Me State Victory Fund" is the vehicle for this, and it was created specifically for the event, but an no point is any of this money going to Robin Carnahan specifically. 

In fact, if you wanted money to go to Robin Carnahan, the worst way you could give it would be giving it through this McCaskill fundraiser, because $4800 (per person) would have to go Claire, and the other money would be doled out to close races.  Should Robin continue to fall in the polls, she won’t get any more from the DSCC (which already clocks in at $10,000 a month when the race was tied).

It defies logic to say Obama is coming to town to raise money for Carnahan.  She’s mentioned nowhere in the official documents, and outside of Jake’s tweet and most recent blog post, there is no mention of her.

Which of course means just one thing.  My original analysis stands.  Obama is in town for Claire, and Claire alone.  As the max is $4800, additional donations will spill over to the DSCC, but this fundraiser is and always has been for McCaskill.

And that means her comments on the conference call – the ones that Jake reported, were driven by this tiny little political blog. 

What’s that?  Yes, it does taste delicious.

Here was a chance for her to support a specific amendment sponsored by Senator Nelson that would do nothing more than continue current policy limiting government funding for elective abortion. It contained none of the “nuances” that politicians typically use to explain how they can claim to be Catholic and yet vote in support of a bill that promotes abortion, because of its other “social justice” features.

Nelson’s bill was a simple and direct attempt to respect the consciences of millions who don’t want their tax dollars spent on abortion. It was a clear test to see if McCaskill’s actions would match her words, and she failed. Her claim to have a pro-life conscience is proven to be bogus. Her actions show that she is just another phony Catholic Democrat politician who votes the party line regardless of moral implications.

As a pro-life Catholic, I turn to the bishops and ask them, “Have you finally seen through this political liar? Will you continue to stand silently while she woos Catholic voters and then spits on their values? Don’t you understand that your silence in situations like this gives grave scandal to your flocks?”

View Larger Map

Claire McCaskill’s St. Louis Office
Theme: Act Like You’re From Missouri, Claire
Gateway Pundit, Jim Durbin

View Larger Map

Russ Carnahan’s Crystal City Office
Theme: Put Away Childish Themes, Russ
Sharp Elbows, Patch Adams, Jefferson/South County 9-12 Project

View Larger Map

Todd Akin’s Ballwin Office
Theme: Keep Up The Great Work!
Gina Loudon

View Larger Map

None of these appeals to you? Pick any House of Representative or Senate Office, make a sign, and show be there at noon. One person with a sign speaks volumes about your passion, dedication, and love of country. No protest is too small.

On the positive side, I think Senator McCaskill handled herself well and showed that she has more political smarts in her little finger than Russ Carnahan has in his entire body.

The meeting was noisy at times, with cheers and boos from various interest groups. She handled these eruptions without getting ruffled, and her calm demeanor caused the crowd to quickly quiet down. I only saw one serious incident in which two women violated the “no signs in the hall” rule and had to be escorted out by security people. McCaskill chastised these two and correctly predicted that they had set the tone for the national media reports about the meeting. She wisely asked the other attendees to please spread the word that the meeting was mostly calm and productive, with the two idiotic women being the exception.

I liked her statement about the carbon tax being bad for MO and the USA, even though I thought she showed foolishness by embracing the Gore religion.

I also liked her direct answer to the audience member who asked if she worries about losing her job as senator if she supports ObamaCare against voters’ wishes. She said she would vote according to what she thought was best for MO, regardless of her party’s position and the affect on her next election. We’ll see.

Unlike most politicians who dodge the question about whether they’ve read the healthcare bill, she said unequivocally that she had read the Senate version in its entirety. I think she meant the Democrat version, since she never mentioned any alternatives, such as Senator Coburn’s.

On the negative side,  she dodged around lots of controversial issues by simply claiming that they don’t exist in the health bill. That was just obfuscation, and you could tell when she was doing it because she seemed a lot less confident.

Also, she made the typical hyperbolic statements that Democrats like to proclaim as “the true facts.” Among these were the bogus statistic that 47 million people are uninsured. She also introduced a new one (at least to my ears) that “the average family spends $12,500 per year for health insurance, and that is a serious financial strain.” In fact, the average family gets health insurance through their employer and spends very little out of pocket for health insurance or even for health care. True, if you are unemployed and have to pay for COBRA or other insurance, it will be a financial strain. That’s why we need to bring down insurance costs by adopting sensible reforms such as those in Senator Coburn’s bill, which is DOA in a Democrat-controlled Senate.

McCaskill didn’t even acknowledge that Coburn and others have proposed much simpler approaches, and she didn’t demonstrate any knowledge of the dire predictions from CBO and many think tanks about the effects of ObamaCare on our country’s future. She seems to have no concern about the huge deficits that Obama is racking up.

I could only conclude that she has not seriously considered any alternatives to the massive health industry overhaul currently being pushed by the White House. So, even though she presented herself as a rational and thoughtful senator, when it comes time to vote, she’ll only have one choice: ObamaCare. She’ll vote for it because she’s a Democrat, and she’ll rationalize her vote to us by claiming that the good outweighs the bad. Never mind that the entire approach – creating a major new entitlement – is unnecessary and could destroy our country.

The specifics of the meeting are:

When:
Monday, July 27, 2009, 7-8pm

Where:
St. Louis Community College – Forest Park Campus
Highlander Lounge
5600 Oakland Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63110

Here is a map of the Campus. You will want to go to the Student Center. Campus Police tell me the best way is to enter off Macklind and onto College Drive. They can tell you where to park.

Now, watch this.

After the incident at her office on Friday, July 17, 2009, Senator McCaskill has arranged for her district director, Michelle Sherod to meet with constituents at a town hall meeting Monday night. AFPMO will be moderating the meeting and Ms Sherod will be taking questions for the Senator.

The specifics of the meeting are:

When:
Monday, July 27, 2009, 7-8pm

Where:
St. Louis Community College – Forest Park Campus
Highlander Lounge
5600 Oakland Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63110

Here is a map of the Campus. You will want to go to the Student Center. Campus Police tell me the best way is to enter off Macklind and onto College Drive. They can tell you where to park.

We hope we can have a vigorous yet courteous exchange Monday evening. We will try to accomodate all who attend.

Hope you can make it!

Remember to be strong and passionate while leaving a good impression, just as you did Thursday when shoulder-to-shoulder with ACORN and MoveOn.org