Keith Laing
The Hill
11/10/2011
Republicans vying to challenge Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in 2012 are mocking her complaints this week about airport security screenings, saying she’s just now experiencing the humiliations of air travel because she no longer owns a private jet.
McCaskill (D-Mo.), who sold a private plane she owned with her husband earlier this year after unpaid taxes on the jet came to light, complained in a Senate hearing Wednesday about TSA’s controversial pat-down hand searches.
McCaskill is being heavily targeted by the Republican Party next year. She said Wednesday that the TSA’s procedures made her not look forward to flying.
One of McCaskill’s potential GOP opponents, former Missouri state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, said Thursday that the senator was just now learning how other airline passengers feel.
“Welcome to the real world, Claire,” Steelman said in a statement that was provided to The Hill.
A spokesman for Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), who is also running for the GOP nomination to challenge McCaskill next year, agreed.
“It’s a further demonstration of how out of touch she is with regular Missourians who have to endure that every time they fly,” Akin spokesman Karl Hansen said in an interview…
The article continues at The Hill.
