Claire McCaskill - Wikipedia

Claire McCaskill

Image courtesy of The Political Guide

Claire McCaskill was born on July 24, 1953 in Rolla, Missouri. McCaskill, a Democrat, was the first Female U.S. Senator elected from Missouri. She first held office in 2006, succeeding incumbent Jim Talent. In 2012 she was reelected against Missouri congressman Todd Akin. McCaskill has a degree in law from the University of Missouri – Columbia.

Early Life, Education, Law Career and Early Political Career

McCaskill’s grew up in Missouri, moving between Rolla, Lebanon and Columbia. Her father, William, worked at the McCaskill mill feed and her mother, Betty Anne, ran a corner drugstore. She graduated from Hickman High School in Colombia. After high school, McCaskill served tables part-time to put herself through college. She was a student of Political Science at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She went on to get a degree in law from the University of Missouri Law School in 1977₄. As a lawyer, she clerked for the Missouri Court of Appeals and later Assistant prosecutor, both in Kansas City. She dealt with sex crimes, homicides and arson cases before she won a seat in the Missouri State Legislature in 1982 where she chaired the Civil and Criminal Justice Committee₁.

In 1993 she became the head of the Jackson County Persecution Office and was the first woman to hold that position. In 1999 she was elected the position of state auditor. In 2004 she moved towards politics and defeated Governor Bob Holden, a sitting Missouri governor, in the primary election.

U.S. Senate

2006 Election

McCaskill defeated Republican incumbent, Jim Talent by a margin of 49.6% to 47.3% in the 2006 U.S. Senate election. This made her the first women Senator elected in Missouri₂.

2012 Election

McCaskill defeated Republican nominee Todd Akin in a margin of 54.7% to 39.2% in 2012₃.

Committees

Claire currently sits on four committees: Armed Services, Commerce, HSGAC and Aging. Her role in these committees are accountability and transparency, earmark reform, increasing Inspectors General independence, regulating credit cards, improving security in foreign aircraft repair stations, reforming the reverse mortgage industry, and protecting veterans₁.

Issues

Issues address by McCaskill: consumer protection, the economy, education, fiscal responsibility, government accountability, healthcare, immigration, Missouri energy sector, protecting Missouri farmers and rural communities, national security, military spending and veterans₁.

Legislative Voting Record

Vote for: Middle Class Tax Cut Act of 2012, Agricultural Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, trade promotion agreements with Panama, Colombia and Korea, Affordable Care Act, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Act, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and Increasing the National Public Debt Limit to name a few₅.

Personal Life

McCaskill divorced her first husband, David Exposito, in 1995 after 11 years of marriage. Together they had three children, Maddie, Lily and Austin. She remarried in Joseph Shepard in 2002. Shepard is a businessman from St. Louis with four children of his own. A week before the 2012 election, McCaskill’s mother, Betty Anne, passed away from natural causes. She lived with the family and was a strong influence on her political career. McCaskill and her family are Roman Catholics₄. 

1. McCaskill, C. (2012). About Claire. Claire McCaskill for U.S. Senator. Retrieved from http://mccaskill.senate.gov/?p=about_senator
2. Blackboard. (2012). Claire McCaskill. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/claire-mccaskill
3. Reese, D. (2012). Claire McCaskill legitimately shuts down Todd Akin in Missouri Senate race. The Washington Post. Retrieved from  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2012/11/07/claire-mccaskill-legitimately-shuts-down-todd-akin-in-missouri-senate-race/
4. Vote Smart. (2012) Senator Claire McCaskill Biography. Election and Candidate Biographies. Retrieved from http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/2109/claire-mccaskill#.UK2sk45c_dk
5. Vote Smart. (2012). Senator Claire McCaskill Voting Records. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved from http://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/2109/claire-mccaskill#.UK2os45c_dk 

Works Cited 

Blackboard. (2012). Claire McCaskill. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/claire-mccaskill

McCaskill, C. (2012). About Claire. Claire McCaskill for U.S. Senator. Retrieved from http://mccaskill.senate.gov/?p=about_senator

Reese, D. (2012). Claire McCaskill legitimately shuts down Todd Akin in Missouri Senate race. The Washington Post. Retrieved from  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2012/11/07/claire-mccaskill-legitimately-shuts-down-todd-akin-in-missouri-senate-race/

Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri [Photo]. (2011). The Political Guide. Retrieved from http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/Senate/Missouri/Claire_McCaskill/

Vote Smart. (2012) Senator Claire McCaskill Biography. Election and Candidate Biographies. Retrieved from http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/2109/claire-mccaskill#.UK2sk45c_dk

Don't Ask McCaskill, Cause She Won't Tell.

            Democrats have a strong voting record in favor of gay marriage. York wrote about the Democrats that have separated themselves from gay rights. A gallup poll found that 65 percent of Democrats support. However, that leaves 34 percent who vote at odds with their party (2012). Claire McCaskill is one of Democrats who is distancing herself from the issue because of the ideologies of those in her state of Missouri. She has not put out a direct statement on her official Senate site. On Votesmart her stance on same-sex marriage remains “unknown”. Pennsylvania's Bob Casey, Florida's Bill Nelson and West Virginia's Joe Manchin are other Senators running for reelection who have generally ignored the topic when asked (York, 2012). They are torn between staying loyal to their party ideologies or their voter demographics.

One of the reasons that McCaskills stance on same-sex marriage was ignored was likely because of her candidate Akin. Many voters assumed that McCaskill and Akin took polarizing positions on most issues. Akin was quoted as saying that, "Anybody who knows something about the history of the human race knows that there is no civilization which has condoned homosexual marriage widely and openly that has long survived" in late August (Signorile, 2012). Akin’s strong position on the matter, painting it out to be the end of civilization, took a lot of pressure off of McCaskill to take a strong stance on either side. Of the news stories I have found about Akin’s comment about same-sex marriage, none of them mention the other candidate’s position on the matter. The stories are too focused on the controversy surrounding Akin. Once again, McCaskill has been able to sit back and allow her candidate to dig himself a hole and leave her as the default winner.  In actuality, both candidates repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

McCaskills separation from same-sex marriage and other gay rights issues was a strategic move. Unlike her opponent, she did not let her emotions get the best of her on the issues. By not speaking out directly she maintained her role as the stable candidate of the two despite her silence on the issue.

Works Cited

Project Vote Smart. (2012). Senator Claire McCaskill’s Political Positions. Vote Smart. Retrieved from http://votesmart.org/candidate/political-courage-test/2109/claire-mccaskill/#.UKxA245c_dk

York, B. (2012). York: GOP sees opportunity in Dems’ support of gay marriage. The Washington Examiner Online. Retrieved from http://washingtonexaminer.com/york-gop-sees-opportunity-in-dems-support-of-gay-marriage/article/2503550#.UKwy3Y5c_dk

VoteMatch. (2012). Claire McCaskill on SenateMatch. On The Issues. Retrieved from http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Claire_McCaskill_SenateMatch.htm