like medicare and medicaid. will they give president obama room to negotiate some kind of deal that gets through this hell coming january 1st. they say they won, the other side lost, they re going to fight. plus democrats are moving to end the so-called silent filibuster which republicans have used to quietly say if you don t have 60 votes, you ain t going nowhere. this is the big question, if they re successful, it s possible, it s possible the democrats will be able to get some things done. we ll talk about that in a minute. they re going to be just like jimmy stewart finally. they re going to force them to actually filibuster like they did in mr. smith goes to washington. anytime they really want to shut down the senate. and the democrats considered least likely to win back her senate seat beats the odds, and i think thanks to todd akin, and is back for a second term. our friend, the great claire mccaskill, joins us tonight, the senator from missouri. what s the first sound
senator claire mccaskill the underdog earlier this year in her race against todd akin, but she battled back and won a decisive victory against mr. legitimate rape. returning to the senate. she s one of the leading moderates in her party, and her top goal right now in the lame duck session coming subpoena to find a compromise with republicans on the issue of taxes and spending. what exactly would that look like? welcome back to hardball, senator mccaskill. for coming to us from the russell building. this is the classic american dilemma. missouri is a moderate state, somewhere near the middle. your state voted for george romney mitt romney, rather, maybe george romney had a chance, too. you won 55% to 39%. how do you represent a state that voted for you and romney? well, it s not hard as long as you are trying to solve problems instead of play politics. i think compromise is what the
you know, violence against women is a real problem in this country. that legislation is thoughtful and it s needed. so, if the republicans are worried what s their problem? it seems good politics to vote for that. why would they vote against their interests? why are republicans so hard-nosed about this? what is it? i think it s the same problem they had, frankly, with a extreme position congressman akin expressed is that rape victims should not be entitled to get the morning-after pill. there s a core of the republican party that wants to drag this country to the edge of the world. and meanwhile, like the violence against women act i m just glad you got one to run against you. senator, i m glad you found one to run against you. so many issues i m a moderate. you re a great voice for missouri. when we return, let me finish with how i think we should get government working again.
british movies, that was the movie that the theater managers ran again and again as the last free movie, the last movie about freedom. anyway, thank you, senator jeff merkley and jonathan weisman of the new york times. up next, senator claire mccaskill won re-election this year by beating the odds. of course, we all followed that race. she also had the luck of running against todd akin, but she ll be back with us, as she should be, in just a moment. and this is hardball, the place for politics. if it wasn t for you don t know what i d do i d have nothing to prove i d have nothing to lose i d be all lost at sea with no reason to make it through
ackn there were hundreds and thousands of votes that were cast for congressman akin. he graciously called 4ñ)me he graciously congratulated me. i recognize his years of public service and patriotism. [ applause ] but all the people that i the votes i didn t get today, here s my message to them. i go to washington first as a missourian. i go first as a missourian and lee continue to be a senator that works across the aisle in a bipartisan way to find the comiro to solve problems for every missouri family, not the families that votedor me. we re n important call. nbc news projects that the winner in the state of iowa is six electoral votes and a stateery hard fought this year. again, nbc news projecting the