Sen. Claire McCaskill Visits With Arnold Veterans in Campaign Stop

With less than a week to go before the election, Sen. Claire McCaskill made her rounds today in Arnold and South County.

Her last campaign stop of the day included a visit to the VFW Post 2593 in Arnold where she personally thanked the veterans for their service. She told Patch Jefferson County is an important county in the race for U.S. Senate.

"There are a lot of independent voters in Jefferson County, and they will decide the election," she said. "People here are not interested in a 'D' or an 'R,' they want someone who understands what their family needs."

In fact, an article in the St. Louis Beacon explained that Jefferson County is viewed as "one of the most reliable swing counties in Missouri." A chart in the article shows that the county's vote for U.S. Senator has been representative of Missouri's vote every year since 2000, excluding 2002.

"We have a very complicated campaign strategy here: keep Todd Akin talking," she joked at the Arnold campaign stop.

She told veterans that Akin voted to cut veteran's benefits, and that she would continue her work to ensure veterans have access to the same benefits her father did, who was a World War II veteran.

"Places like this (the veteran's post) feel like home to me," McCaskill told Patch. "The veterans know I've been a champion for them."

Tony DeBello, of Affton, served in Vietnam. After the event he said, "It's interesting how down-to-earth Claire is. She's the person you'd like to sit down and have a drink with. She is like a neighbor."

Earlier in the day, McCaskill held a news conference at Bayless Elementary and Intermediate schools to address the importance of the federal school lunch program. She said Akin wants to eliminate the program.

After that she and Rep. Scott Sifton (D-96th District) spoke with seniors at Miss Sheri's Cafeteria on the importance of protecting Medicare and Social Security. Sifton will face incumbent Jim Lembke next week in the race for the redistricted First District Missouri Senate. Lembke has represented the First District since 2009.