In her bid to unset U.S. Sen. Jim Talent (R.-Mo.), Democrat Claire McCaskill has staked her campaign on her image, touting her family's roots, her own hard work and prosecutorial experience as reasons for voters to support her.
But McCaskill's decision to join forces tomorrow with famous songwriter Willie Nelson, known for his marijuana-smoking and hippie image, could raise old questions about McCaskill's past.
An interview with McCaskill from KCTV in Kansas City made its way onto YouTube today. It has the potential to put McCaskill on the defensive about a subject she clearly doesn't want to talk about. The interview, which we're told took place earlier this year in 2004, dealt with a mid-1990s federal drug investigation involving McCaskill when she was Jackson County prosecutor.
During the interview, then-KCTV reporter Dave Helling puts McCaskill on the spot about her "youthful indiscretions," as McCaskill describes them. (Click here for a clip of the first segment and second segment.)
Dave Helling: When did you stop using drugs? Did you ever use drugs?
Claire McCaskill: Here's how I'm going to answer your question, and I think it's very fair: In the '70s when I was very young, I did some stupid things.
Questions like Helling's most certainly should come up tomorrow when McCaskill shares the stage with pro-pot songwriter Willie Nelson at a fundraiser.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Deb Peterson reports, "While there, Willie is expected to talk about his support for alternative fuels and to reveal that he's hoping to build an ethanol refinery in Missouri."
We venture to guess that Willie will be asked by McCaskill's campaign to keep his views on legalizing marijuana to himself.
