MTP Confirms: Talent Sides with his Party over Missourians
October 08, 2006
"Time after time, I have taken sometimes the lonely road, like Senator Warner and Senator Graham and Senator McCain and General Powell. There are Republicans that are standing up and saying, 'We are not doing things right in Washington.' I want to be that kind of Democrat that will come here and stand up to lobbyists, to my own party, to the President and solve problems for the American people instead of playing political gamesmanship."
-- U.S. Senate Candidate Claire McCaskill [Meet The Press, 10/8/06]
McCaskill Offers Independent Voice for Change
ST. LOUIS -- In today's "Meet the Press" debate, Senator Jim Talent could not distance himself from his record of rubberstamping President Bush's failing agenda, as U.S. Senate Candidate McCaskill pledged to be a strong and independent voice for Missouri in the style of former Missouri Senator Harry Truman. While Senator Talent was on the defensive about his support for "staying the course" in Iraq, opposition to lifesaving stem cell research, and his record as a Bush rubberstamp, McCaskill aggressively laid out her vision for changing Washington.
Despite mounting evidence that the situation in Iraq is getting worse and contributing to global terrorism, Senator Talent continued his support of the Bush Administration's failed "stay the course" approach. Even as top military experts have asserted the need for a change in course and as the sectarian violence and attacks against coalition troops in Iraq have reached an all-time high, Talent claimed that "we have made progress."
McCaskill asserted the need for a change in course in Iraq, showing how the war has destabilized the Middle East region and made America less safe. McCaskill questioned Talent's failure to hold the Bush administration accountable for its mistakes by not asking the tough questions on the Armed Services Committee and cited Senator John Warner, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who recently questioned the Bush administration's "stay the course" policy, saying that it is not a winnable strategy. McCaskill vowed to always ask the tough questions and demand accountability over playing politics when American lives are at stake.
"This is Harry Truman's Senate seat. When he was in the Senate, during the war, a war that was over the fight of our civilization, the fight for freedom, he asked questions about war profiteering and he was called brave," McCaskill said. "In this climate right now, they would question whether or not he was a coward. We need to be asking the questions, we need to have a plan, we need to have accountability."
Talent also showed how he is on the wrong side of Missouri by opposing lifesaving stem cell research. When grilled by Russert on former Senator John Danforth's statement that if you had to go into a burning house "and you had to save a three-year-old or a Petri dish with cells, you'd save the three-year-old," Talent refused to take a position, continuing to falsely equate stem cell research with human cloning, which is strictly banned under the Missouri initiative.
McCaskill, on the other hand, showed how we have been given the possibility of cures for millions of Americans suffering from debilitating diseases and conditions and that America has never turned her back on medical research that offers such promising cures. When faced with the choice between allowing stem cell research to proceed or criminalizing it, McCaskill said we must side with the cures stem cell offers.
"I come down on the side of hope, hope for cures and supporting science," McCaskill said. "I think it's very important that someone be principled, strong and not muddled, but very clear and straightforward about their position on this issue."
Finally, despite Talent's best efforts, he failed to distance himself from his record of rubberstamping the abysmal Bush agenda. Even though he campaigned vigorously with Bush in 2002 and 2004 and has had the President in Missouri for numerous fundraisers this year, Talent refused to acknowledge the reality of his record of voting with President Bush 94% of the time.
McCaskill effectively showed how this race will determine the type of leadership Missouri has in Washington, drawing a contrast between Talent's position as a Bush rubberstamp and the independent and courageous leadership of Missouri's most famous U.S. Senator, Harry Truman. McCaskill showed how Truman was never afraid to speak up when he saw wrongdoing, even when it came from his party. McCaskill vowed to take Truman's style of leadership to Missouri.
