Granny Geek

Jeff Goldberg’s Letter From Washington in this week’s New Yorker reviews what Democrats across the country are thinking about who can win the mid-term elections, as well as who could win in 2008. Springfield’s Nora Walcott is quoted:

The outgoing executive director of the Greene County Democrats, Nora Walcott, was more direct. Though she said she was to the left in the Party, she feared that Clinton�s liberal credentials would alienate Missouri voters. �You�ve got to tell the people in Washington not to nominate Hillary,� she told me. �It would do so much damage to the Missouri Democratic Party.� Clinton�s obvious shifts to the center frustrate Walcott on two counts, she said: �I disagree with the way she�s going to the right, but my biggest problem with it is that it�s not working. People don�t believe she�s a moderate.�

Goldberg’s article features an extensive interview with Clare McCaskill.

�Being a Democrat is about balance. It�s about being moderate and truthful and strong. Harry Truman, leaders like that, they were strong enough to take on foreign enemies when they needed to, but they were also strong enough to know when not to fight, when to use other weapons besides military force. That�s the message the Democratic Party should be sending. We should let the American people know we want to work with allies, work with the U.N., and that we don�t like war, but that we�ll defend this country�s interests with everything we�ve got.�