McCaskill downplays convention skip

by: Matt

Tue Jun 26, 2012 at 20:16:09 PM EDT

Sen. Claire McCaskill brushed off buzz about her skipping the Democratic National Convention and questions about whether she's looking for some distance from a politically-challenged president in a gaggle with Capitol Hill reporters (the questions are paraphrased):  

"I've got a really hard election, if you were in a really hard election and it was after Labor Day, would you go to North Carolina to a bunch of parties and glad-handling? Or would you stay home and try to convince Missourians they should rehire you?"
...

"I've never gone to a convention when I've had a contested election ... This is consistent for me, it's only weird for all you guys."

Would you appear on stage with Obama?

"Of course I would," she said, adding she recently did in a Republican area in her state.

She walked away, calling all the chatter "dumb" -Politico