Claire McCaskill begs Stacey Abrams to run for Senate -- and break Mitch McConnell’s stranglehold on democracy

Former Sen. Claire McCaskill begged Stacey Abrams to run for U.S. Senate to help end Mitch McConnell's tenure as majority leader.

Abrams appeared Thursday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to discuss her decision on running for office after her loss in Georgia's gubernatorial race, which was marred by voter suppression, and the former Democratic senator-turned-TV analyst asked her to help take down McConnell.

"I think you've got a really hard decision," McCaskill said. "I think you're an amazing leader, and I am so proud of who you are and what you've accomplished - -say that first."

The former Missouri senator then trashed her former colleague, Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) as a toady for President Donald Trump, and said Abrams would be a vast improvement.

"The difference between leadership in the United States Senate between David Perdue and Stacey Abrams is night and day," McCaskill said. "I mean, he is a sycophant for Donald Trump, he is all things Trump. He's not even thoughtful about it."

She said Democrats could not advance their agenda as long as McConnell stood in the way.

"I really do think that it will be very hard for us to what we want to do in this country as long as Mitch McConnell is running the show in the United States Senate," McCaskill said. "So I want you to do whatever your ambition and your planning leads you. I use the word 'ambition' because I'm proud of your ambition, women need to own their ambition -- I think that's terrific."

She said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had helped her overcome her own misgivings about running for Senate, and that helped Democrats take control in 2006.

"We took the Senate by three narrow races, in Virginia, Montana and Missouri, and that was in 2006," McCaskill said. "I think we could repeat that in 2020, but maybe not without you."

Abrams said she appreciated the input she's received from Schumer to help her make a decision, but she still had not determined what she would do next.

"Leader Schumer has been nothing but gracious," she said. "He's been very intense and very intentional, and I appreciate that -- I appreciate the input. My job is to make sure, one, I'm the right person for the job, two, that it's the right time, three, that this is the right job that I need to hold."

But she agreed that someone should replace the junior senator from Georgia.

"I share your disappointment about David Perdue," Abrams said.