Claire McCaskill holds Democrats at arm’s length

Sen. Claire McCaskill is distancing herself from her prominent Democrat colleagues as she tries to hold on to her seat.

In an interview Monday with Fox News, the Missouri senator defined what she understands to be “crazy Democrats,” a term she used in a viral campaign ad.

“The crazy Democrats are people who walk in restaurants and scream in elected officials faces,” she said. “We have a state senator here in Missouri that actually advocated for the assassination of President Trump. That’s a crazy Democrat.”

Ms. McCaskill said she wouldn’t apply the label to any of her fellow senators, but did take aim at two in particular. She said Sen. Elizabeth Warren “sure went after” her over bank regulations, and stressed that she disagrees with Sen. Bernard Sanders “on a bunch of stuff.”

“I’ve done most kinds of things that separate me from the knee-jerk folks that just are against the president no matter what,” she said.

Ms. McCaskill is creating space between her and mainstream Democrats at a precarious time for her re-election campaign. With just one week left before Election Day, Real Clear Politics polls show her trailing Republican opponent Josh Hawley by two points.