Claire McCaskill

I have been to Missouri back in the 1980s I got interested in Claire McCaskill, when she lost for race for U.S. Senate and later became a political analyst. I was curious about her childhood and political background.

Not very much of the audiobook was spent on her childhood. Her mother encouraged her to be self-sufficient before she got married, and her father told her to be popular and get good grades. Claire did well in all the areas, got good grades and was her school's homecoming queen. On to law school and she became a successful prosecutor. When her little boy asked what she did all day for a paper, he got the spelling wrong and said that she was the best prostitute!

Her first marriage ended because her husband became an alcoholic, although he was always a wonderful dad to her kids. After a long romance, the man who she was dating, told her that he could not see marriage in their future. Later, she married a man who did not have a political background.

Claire has had a lot of ups and downs in her political career, but she always had perseverance and a diligent researcher. Most of all she is resilient and smart and adaptable.

The above review is based on my own thoughts and feelings.… (mehr)

I chose this book because Claire McCaskill is my senator and I was interested in learning more about her personal life and political career. At just under three hundred pages, she just hits the highlights which was perfect for me. It made it a quick read and kept it entertaining. Most of it is about her struggle to be accepted in the good old boy network that’s so prevalent in politics at both the local and national levels.

I loved that Claire was honest about her almost House of Cards level of scheming to set Todd Akin up as her opponent in her most recent Senate race. You may recall that that he’s the candidate who said, ““If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” – meaning that if a woman is raped, she can’t get pregnant. Claire wanted him to be her opponent because she knew she could beat him easily after he made that comment. She’s also not afraid to admit that she’s made mistakes along the way and to write about them specifically, like when she said she wouldn’t let her daughters near Bill Clinton, which of course Hillary was not happy about. It’s refreshing to read such unflinching honesty from a politician.

If you are interested in politics and especially women’s role in them, then you’ll like this book even if you don’t live in Missouri.… (mehr)