U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill touted her rural roots during a campaign stop Tuesday in Houston, the second of a six-day tour dubbed “Fighting for Our Farmers’ Barnstorm.”
McCaskill, a Democrat who spent part of her childhood in Houston, reminisced about her early years in Texas County and familiar landmarks after her campaign bus traveled down Grand Avenue for the stop at the Houston Rural Fire Association meeting room on Walnut Street.
McCaskill also made a visit at Texas County Memorial Hospital, where she toured construction associated with a more than $18 million project that is expected to be completed in about a year. U.S. Rural Development financed the project through a low-interest loan.
McCaskill, who will face U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, the victor of a bruising GOP primary last week, told those attending in downtown Houston that passage of a new farm bill, which would include aid for drought-stricken farmers in the county, was essential. The measure has passed in the U.S. Senate.
McCaskill said she understood the seriousness of situation, which has sparked the sale of cattle and required the purchase of hay. Earlier in the day, McCaskill was at a livestock sale barn in West Plains, where sale numbers were expected to greatly exceed normal figures.
Akin, she said, had never supported a farm bill during his time in Congress. McCaskill, who is expecting a tough re-election battle, said Akin’s views were extreme and not in tune with rural Missouri, including the privatization of Medicare and Social Security.
McCaskill said ultimately the race would be decided by independent, middle-of-road voters.