It was a safe bet that state auditor and U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill scheduled lunch with me Tuesday to discuss black voters.
Last month, I wrote a column about a few locals who expressed frustration with the Democratic Party and vowed to support McCaskill's Republican rival, U.S. Sen. Jim Talent. St. Louis is a majority-black and Democratically controlled city that takes blacks for granted, they fumed.
It wasn't the topic I wanted to aggressively pursue with McCaskill. Besides, the loudest complaints I've heard aren't even about "black issues." They're about campaign dollars not going to black politicos, ministers and media outlets.
A valid concern, sure, but blacks won't get the respect they deserve from either party until they develop an all-inclusive, community-based agenda and become a formidable (bipartisan) force at the polls - period.
I wanted to avoid any practiced, politicized spiel about blacks and the Democratic Party. After McCaskill and I sat down to talk, I attempted to steer the conversation on to other issues.
She didn't indict the entire "moral values" crowd when we discussed the unfolding scandal of ex-Rep. Mark Foley, a Republican, and accusations that he sent salacious messages to teenage male pages. However, she said, as a former prosecutor who has handled child and sexual abuse cases, she can't forgive any politician who knowingly tolerated or attempted to cover up Foley's behavior.
"How about those polls showing that so-called 'security moms' are bolting from the GOP?" I asked, expecting McCaskill to exploit that question.
She cautioned me not to make too much of those reports. Sure, she believes she's the best candidate to address women's concerns, but the opinions of female voters are varied, she said. It would be a mistake to think they vote in unison.