State Speaker Asked Claire McCaskill to 'Bring Her Kneepads' to Pass a Bill

On Tuesday night, appearing on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Senator Claire McCaskill talked about the good old days. You know, back when she was a young, single state legislator in the Missouri House of Representatives, who needed a bill passed and decided to ask the Speaker of the House for help, and he answered, “Claire, did you bring your kneepads?”

Senator McCaskill is releasing a new book called Plenty Ladylike, and she made the stop by O’Donnell’s MSNBC show to promote it. During the chat, she described what it was like to be a woman in a field dominated by men doling out fellatio jokes and still expecting to be taken seriously. She also talked about supporting then-Senator Barack Obama over Secretary Hillary Clinton back in 2008, and how that was the direct result of her daughter Maddie calling her out on her principles.