McClatchy: McCaskill considered a 'Truman in a skirt'

[babylonsister]

McCaskill considered a 'Truman in a skirt'
By David Goldstein | McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON — Here’s how freshman Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri spent her first summer on Capitol Hill:

She grilled a top aviation safety official about deficient airline inspections, spurned her Democratic leaders on two key votes and took a solitary — if unsuccessful — stand against closed-door hearings on a defense bill. That last one earned her some blowback.

“It was my first real experience being out in the desert by myself and not getting the warm fuzzies from all my colleagues,” McCaskill said.

It was also a reminder that despite the divisive partisanship in Congress, the Senate remains a club.

“I was warned a little bit to tread lightly,” McCaskill said. “‘Don’t take gratuitous swipes at people. If you start taking swipes at people, they can swipe back.

“There is a line you are careful not to cross.”

This is the latest in a series of stories about how this freshman lawmaker, whose closely contested race last fall helped put the Democrats in charge of Congress, learns to operate in a narrowly divided Senate.

In a recent interview with The Washington Post, a senior Republican, Sen. John Warner of Virginia, wistfully recalled the “old traditions” when “freshmen were seen and not heard.”

Not this freshman class. It has too many outspoken members to go back to such genteel traditions. McCaskill might be Exhibit A.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/18526.html

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. the last timein history that there was a quiet, gentile, and chummy

legislative body was in 1933 Germany. I wonder how that worked out.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Thanks for posting! nt

[babylonsister]

3. Anytime! I thought this was a good article on her! nt

[Like It Is]

4. She couldn't ask for a better compliment ! n/t

[trashcanistanista]

5. She was one of my adopted candidates

I supported in the last election. I am happy to say she is living up to my expectations. So is Jim Webb and for the most part, John Tester, and Amy Klobuchar. Jerry McNierny - eh, not so much.