Claire McCaskill is campaigning as pharma’s sworn enemy — and that’s the way she wants it
ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Claire McCaskill is betting her political future on a simple hope: that Missouri voters care enough about drug pricing to give her another term in Washington.
It is a bold strategy for a Democrat in an increasingly red state, facing an uphill battle to keep her Senate seat. Yet McCaskill is investing heavily in the approach, devoting fully half of a 15-minute stump speech here last week to the perceived evils of pharmaceutical manufacturers.
“I think people are more angry today than they’ve ever been about how they’re being taken for a ride with the increase in pharmaceutical drug prices,” she told STAT on Friday, after a rally at a local Democratic Party office in this St. Louis suburb. “I think it is an issue that is more motivating than almost any other issue I talk about in this campaign.”
If the response from her partisans is any indication, her theory seems sound. Early in her appearance before roughly 100 supporters, McCaskill announced what would be her top priority should Missouri send her back to Washington: allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers.
The crowd roared.
Read more: Is mistrust of ‘big pharma’ enough to help unseat a Democratic stalwart in Congress?
The Democratic Party has, despite polling that suggests health care and drug costs are top priorities for voters.
