JEFFERSON CITY — We heard an interesting rumor today in Jefferson City — at a John Edwards rally of all places (check back later for video). If Senator Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination for President, would he select Sen. Claire McCaskill as his runningmate?Selecting McCaskill would do two important things: repair relations with some female Democrats now supporting Hillary Clinton, and almost certainly ensure the Democrats win the State of Missouri, which has a nearly perfect record for selecting the President.Hmmmmmm…

Keep up with St. Louis politics at www.pubdef.net

BREAKING NEWS

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill broke the news at a press conference a few minutes ago: Barack Obama will be in St. Louis on Saturday for a 9:00 PM public event (no word yet where). That’s just three days before Missouri and 20 other states get a chance to vote on the Democratic and Republican candidates.

More details as they become available…

The AP is reporting that Senator Claire McCaskill is going to endorse Barack Obama for President today.

McCaskill has praised Obama often and was widely believed to favor the Illinois senator over Clinton. But the Senate freshman had resisted openly supporting a candidate until now, saying she wanted to preserve working relationships with Senate colleagues.

She said last week that she identifies with the desire for change that Obama supporters have reported to pollsters.

One factor in McCaskill’s endorsement may have been that her relationship with Hillary Clinton has been a bit shaky dating back to when McCaskill was running for the senate in 2006.

During an appearance that year on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, McCaskill said she didn’t want former President Bill Clinton, who had previously appeared at a rally for McCaskill in St. Louis, anywhere near her daughter. PubDef.net learned that the next day a fundraiser the Clintons had scheduled for McCaskill in New York was canceled.

Here’s the transcript from that October 8, 2006 show:

MR. RUSSERT: You’re having Bill Clinton come in to raise money for you. Do you think Bill Clinton was a great president?

MS. McCASKILL: I do. I think—I have a lot of problems with some of his, his, his personal issues. I said at…

MR. RUSSERT: But do you…

MS. McCASKILL: I said at the time, “I think he’s been a great leader, but I don’t want my daughter near him.”

MR. RUSSERT: You said that, according to New Yorker magazine, that you don’t think Hillary Clinton would be a good Democratic nominee because she couldn’t win Democrats in Missouri. True?

MS. McCASKILL: Well, you know, honestly, the presidential politics is going to get very intense and very, frankly, there’s going to be a lot of back and forth after November. I don’t want to get into presidential politics today.

MR. RUSSERT: Would you like to see her president?

MS. McCASKILL: You know, I, I, I think any Democratic nominee is going to be better than this president.

Senator Claire McCaskill wants to make drug companies’ contributions to doctors public. McCaskill said today that she will introduce a bill next month requiring drug companies to list all gifts, promotional items, money and drug samples given to doctors online.

The information would be listed on a national drug registry website. Patients could use this website to find out if their doctor has received gifts from drug manufacturers.

McCaskill says gifts can lead to preferential prescriptions from doctors, and she hopes the drug registry website will cut down on this practice.

McCaskill made the announcement today at a meeting with St. Louis members of the American Medical Student Association at Washington University.

Undeterred by record high gas prices, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is taking a road trip this weekend.

Following the national outrage over the conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, the Missouri Senator is taking a few days to visit some sick veterans and check on their state of health care.

McCaskill plans to take her RV on a four-day, 14-stop tour with stops in Fort Leonard Wood, Springfield, Joplin and Nevada on May 29; Kansas City, St. Joseph, Cameron and Kirksville on May 30; Hannibal, Mexico and Columbia on May 31; and St. Louis, Poplar Bluff and Cape Girardeau on June 1.

No word yet on where she’ll stop for barbecue on this Memorial Day weekend.