Trade harsh shots

McCaskill, Hawley trade harsh shots in final Missouri debate

By JAMES ARKIN

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill and Republican Josh Hawley clashed on nearly every issue in their final debate Thursday, a mostly negative affair which saw both candidates hammer on their favored attack lines again and again.

Hawley pejoratively called McCaskill a “liberal Democrat” at least 10 times during the debate, underlining his key campaign message that she is out of step with Missouri voters. McCaskill countered by criticizing Hawley for attempting to climb the political ladder after only two years in the attorney general’s office, and she accused him of making up attacks against her.

The third and final debate underlined the wide chasm between the two candidates in one of the most critical Senate races of 2018. Limited public polling has shown a tightly contested race in a state President Donald Trump carried by 19 percentage points but which McCaskill has won two terms.

McCaskill, like other Democrats up for reelection in states Trump won in 2016, searched for middle ground on the question of working with the president. She said she voted with the president 50 percent of the time and said he had signed three dozen of her bills into law, but she criticized his rhetoric and the example he sets.

“I just don’t think that we should be setting an example that the leader of the most amazing nation in the world thinks it’s OK to lie all the time,” McCaskill said. “Just lie after lie after lie.”

Hawley said he would prioritize Missourians, but that siding with Trump would do just that. He dinged McCaskill for voting too often with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

“Have I supported the president? You bet I have, because I think the policies he’s pursuing are good for the state,” Hawley said.

Nearly every point in the debate sparked heated disagreement. McCaskill attacked Hawley for being party to a lawsuit that would unravel the Affordable Care Act, including its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. She said Hawley’s proposed alternative solutions would not provide sufficient coverage for pre-existing conditions, and would leave no “safety net” for people who currently rely on them. Hawley countered by saying he approved of ways to cover pre-existing conditions outside the parameters of Obamacare, criticizing McCaskill for what he described as “scare tactics” and saying people had been “held hostage” by high costs under the law.

On immigration, Hawley said the Democratic senator had “ridiculed” Trump for wanting a Mexican border wall and that McCaskill has backed “radical” immigration bills. McCaskill said Hawley was cherry-picking votes on immigration, touting her support from the National Border Patrol council to prove her bona fides on border security.

They also disagreed on tax cuts, with Hawley fully supportive of the cuts Republicans passed into law last year and McCaskill criticizing them for increasing the deficit without boosting economic growth. On guns, Hawley touted his A rating from the NRA and criticized McCaskill, who has an F from the pro-gun group.

Both candidates did say they supported adding mental health to the background check system, while McCaskill added that she supported banning bump stocks and expanding to universal background checks.

But any agreement was fleeting. Hawley accused McCaskill “outright lies” about his record, and said her attacks were “unbecoming.”

"We’re at the desperation phase of Senator McCaskill’s campaign,” Hawley said, a critique he later repeated.

McCaskill said Hawley broke the two promises he made when he ran for attorney general: to clean up public ethics in the state capital and not to climb the political ladder. McCaskill borrowed a quotation from Ronald Reagan and said she wouldn’t attack Hawley for his “youth and inexperience.”

“I wear my years of public service proudly,” McCaskill said. “I’ve learned a lot from them. They make me a stronger senator for Missouri.”