Claire McCaskill for President

With Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin making waves in the 2008 Presidential race, are there any other women who may take up the mantle of the next female candidate for high office in the United States? A recent book about the 2008 campaign has brought forth the name of Missouri's first-time Senator Claire McCaskill.

Bio

Senator McCaskill became the first woman elected Senator in the state of Missouri. Born in 1953, she is six years younger than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A trailblazer in her home state of Missouri, McCaskill holds a law degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia and has a background as a prosecutor.

McCaskill has seven children, all grown, and served as prosecutor of Jackson County (Kansas City), served in the state General Assembly, and was the state's Auditor before challenging Jim Talent for his Senate seat in 2006.

Politics

McCaskill made waves on the national stage in a 2006 debate on NBC's Meet the Press with the late Tim Russert. She held her own against Jim Talent with her common sense attitude. What did it for me was when Jim Talent spoke of 600 billion dollars as an inexpensive way of doing things in Congress. To which McCaskill replied immediately, "If Jim Talent thinks 600 billion dollars is not a lot of money, he's been in Washington too long."

McCaskill won a close election that shifted power in the Senate to a majority of Democrats with 51, which was why the race received national attention. McCaskill has held her own in the Senate for the three years she has been there as she chairs her own subcommittee.

Credentials

Being a lawyer by trade, McCaskill has had political aspirations ever since graduating from college. As a candidate for President of the United States, she would be ideal for not only her experience but her age as well. Hillary Clinton will likely be too old to run in 2016 as she will be nearly seventy years old. McCaskill will still be in her mid-60s when the election rolls around, not much older than Clinton is now.

Other women hold high office in the United States Cabinet and Supreme Court, but most commonly Presidents get elected as a former governor or Senator over the past forty years of American politics. McCaskill has been known for tackling issues as fiscal responsibility, education, and defense spending as a sitting member of the Armed Services Committee. While Claire McCaskill has not decided on any political aspirations beyond her current term in the Senate, she should be a viable candidate for higher office. Even if you take away gender as an issue, McCaskill has far more qualifications to run a high office such as President than some of her colleagues. Her varied perspectives, political savvy, and real-world take on the issues makes her an ideal consideration for a presidential run in 2016.