2012 looking mighty close to endangered Democrats

By Ed Lasky

One of the manifold benefits behind the shellacking of the Democrats in November is that it can sober them up enough to learn and to listen.

Democrats have more Senators coming up for re-election in 2012 (23) than do Republicans, and several of the most endangered come from states that are decidedly red.

Among these Senators is Claire McCaskill from Missouri -- the "Show Me" state that showed Democrats via a referendum last year that its voters did not cotton the individual mandate that undergirded the whole ObamaCare edifice (and that has constitutional problems).

McCaskill, who has been a loyal Obama acolyte, now suggests that the individual mandate (that she voted for when she voted for ObamaCare) should be re-examined.

The Hill reports:

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), expected to face stiff competition from Republicans in the 2012 election, said she understood why the requirement was included in the reform law, but said lawmakers must find other ways to boost insurance enrollment.

"There's other ways we can get people into the pool - I hope - other than a mandate, and we need to look at that," McCaskill said Wednesday morning on MSNBC.

Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected the individual mandate during the August primary, with 71 percent of voters approving a referendum opposing the measure. McCaskill said at the time she'd heard the voters loud and clear.

The mandate offends people's sense of liberty. But without the mandate, ObamaCare tends to crumble within since it becomes even less fiscally sound than it would without the mandate.

McCaskill sees the writing on the wall does not bode well for her in 2012.

McCaskill has reason to be worried -- Republicans won her state's other Senate seat in 2010 and she begins her reelection fight in a virtual tie with Republican Sarah Steelman, according to December numbers from the left-leaning Public Policy Polling. Steelman is the only Republican who has announced a candidacy, but other Republicans, including former Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.), are said to be considering a challenge to the first-term senator.

We will see more defections. ObamaCare continues to lose public support; Republicans are resurgent and will use its control of the House to continue to inform Americans of the problems that beset ObamaCare; and future court decisions may further alert voters to the perils of ObamaCare.

Democratic Senators (such as Ben Nelson of Nebraska but others beside him, including West Virginia's Joe Manchin) run political risks if they do not act to show their concerns are the voters' concerns.