Joe Nocera, Columnist

Claire McCaskill Leaves the Washington ‘Sugar High’ Behind

The outgoing Missouri senator is proud of the substantive work she did. She just wishes you knew more about it.

December 17, 2018 at 11:00 AM UTC

Joe Nocera is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He has written business columns for Esquire, GQ and the New York Times, and is the former editorial director of Fortune. He is the host and writer of the Bloomberg-Wondery podcast "The Shrink Next Door."

Doing the work on Pentagon procurement.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images

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“I’m proud of being a pragmatist,” said Claire McCaskill.

The Democratic senator from Missouri was sitting in a large, comfortable chair in her large, comfortable office, acting as if she didn’t have a care in the world. The Senate was in session, but her press aide wasn’t keeping track of the time, and staff members weren’t lined up outside the door, eager to rush in the moment I left.