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McCaskill visits Nevada on campaign tour
* Democrat positions herself as the compromise candidate.
By Lynn A. Wade
Nevada Daily Mail
On the third day of her week-long, statewide "In Our Town, On Our Side" tour, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill visited Nevada Monday, stopping by the White Grill to meet with voters.
"I grew up in rural Missouri and know firsthand that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions for the challenges we face," said McCaskill in a statement provided. "Whether it's supporting our rural communities by protecting our post offices or voting to give farmers and ranchers peace of mind in the Farm Bill, I want all Missourians to know that they have a senator who's willing to work across the aisle to get the job done, who understands our agriculture needs, keeps the promises made to our veterans, and also understands that compromise is not a dirty word."
In a brief address to a crowd of about 20 people that included her staff, well-wishing Democrats and a handful of Republicans, McCaskill said, "it's a blessing to be from a state that's evenly divided, because it means that I don't have to spend as much time worrying about making people mad and I can spend more time figuring out how we can compromise.
She's teamed up with Republicans on certain issues before, and plans to do so again.
She noted that she's ranked, on a scale of 1-100, as 50th on the liberal side; 51st on the conservative side, referring to that as the "sweet spot" the place where "common sense is considered and where compromise occurs," McCaskill said.
In the country's history, she asserted, "some of the best work has been done around the table of compromise."
"It hasn't been sayin' it's my way or the highway. It's sayin' what can we agree on so we can build some highways."
She said she wants to continue along that vein in the senate, carving out a middle ground "where we can bring people in from the ledges -- we've got some people on the ledges on both sides -- and try to find those compromises."
McCaskill said the top three Republicans in the race all "make John Ashcroft look like a liberal," saying all three want to privatize medicare, Social Security, and want the feds out of the student loan business.
McCaskill said she's "had three 17-year-olds and wouldn't loan money to any of them. I don't know how many banks" will make such loans, noting that the student loan system is important and that without it only the rich will be able to afford college.
An audience member asked who'd pay the loans back; and McCaskill quickly asserted the students would do so. "The default on student loans is very low," she said; but the audience member asserted student loans would be the next "upcoming crisis."
"In our country, if we're going to say, the only people who can go to college will be the rich, I think we're going to end up with a country that's all the rich people and all the poor people but nothing in between."
Republicans in attendance weren't convinced; but politely kept quiet while McCaskill finished her speech.
Afterward, GOP Vernon County Chairman Jerry Wadel said he wished there'd been more opportunity for questions, but noted he understands the time limits she faced. Nevertheless, he added that "some people think that might well be the next bubble to collapse, so the American people will be required to back all of those loans," and that the default rate will go up, he asserted, because college grads are having difficulty finding jobs. Local banker Scott Buerge noted that at one time, the banks did make the loans, "until the government made it so complicated," and so riddled with regulation "they just couldn't do it anymore."
Republicans also had other questions they would have liked to pose to McCaskill that the Daily Mail noted and will address in future coverage of the race.
Another audience member brought up the value of veterans benefits such as the GI Bill and a desire to hear more about the benefits of such programs rather than hearing so much about the cost; and McCaskill agreed such benefits are important.
"We have to worry about cost; but the priorities of veterans is something we can't do on the cheap," she said, touting her efforts to get veterans reimbursed for mileage to go to medical appointments, for example; and the passage of a new GI Bill for the current generation of veterans.
"Is the federal government supposed to be in everything? Of course not. Have I fought some regulations that were stupid? Yes, I have and we stopped them. But do we need to turn out the lights of the federal government and go home? No, we don't need to do that. We need that middle ground that Missouri's famous for, and that's what this election is going to be about.
McCaskill noted that "This is Harry Truman's seat. He was not afraid to say things and do things that weren't popular. And he also wasn't afraid to say what he meant, and meant what he said," and she believes more would get done if people were willing to do so more.
"I'm gonna fight like a scalded cat to get re-elected, but it's not the end of the world if I don't. I'd much rather do what I think is right," McCaskill said.
Phyllis Sprenkle said of the event that she felt McCaskill did a good job in delivering her short message; praising her message of finding the middle ground.