Reid mentioned him yesterday, today it’s McCaskill. Is Norquist the libs’ new boogeyman?

(The Hill) — Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said Democrats are willing to compromise on budget cuts, but that fear of conservative taxpayer advocate Grover Norquist was keeping Republicans from doing the same on tax increases.

“A bunch of them signed this thing by the guy that I’ve never met that they’re all afraid of,” McCaskill said Thursday on Morning Joe on MSNBC. “The man who shall not be named — Grover Norquist.”

Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, circulated a Taxpayer Protection Pledge against raising taxes that has been signed by nearly all Republican lawmakers. Democrats have argued that the pledge ends any conversation about compromising on a balanced budget.

Senate Democrats have tried to portray Republicans as beholden to special interests such as Norquist and the Tea Party.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday called Norquist the de facto head of the party and said that GOP lawmakers were ‘being led like puppets’ by him. “They’re giving speeches that we should compromise on our deficit. Never do they compromise on Grover Norquist. He is their leader,” Reid said.