Less than straight talk

Power Line ^ | January 27, 2008 | Paul Mirengoff

[2ndDivisionVet]

When I traveled with John McCain in November, I found him quite gracious – not just to the reporters and bloggers, but also to his campaign rivals. McCain did not talk about them unless asked, and when asked he spoke well of Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, and Fred Thompson, and respectfully of Hillary Clinton.

The only exception was Mitt Romney. As we settled into our seats in the back of the Straight Talk Express after a town hall meeting in Rochester, New Hampshire, McCain said, with a slight grin, that things must really be going well in Iraq because Mitt Romney had spoken enthusiastically about the surge. McCain then implied that Romney had not been a supporter of the surge. I pointed out that when I interviewed Romney in February, not long after the surge had been announced, he told me he did support it. McCain responded that Romney had not, however, been out front in advocating the surge. I conceded that this was true.

That’s pretty much been McCain’s line ever since – he alone among the presidential contenders saw that the “Rumsfeld” strategy wasn’t working and called for more forces; the rest of field was passive, though his main Republicans supported the surge once the administration decided to implement it.

But if a person really wants to say something nasty about someone, he’s usually going to end up saying it. That’s especially true if that someone is his primary rival in a political campaign. John McCain really wanted to say that Mitt Romney advocated withdrawal from Iraq, and now he has finally said it.

In doing so, he relies on a statement which cannot fairly be construed as advocating withdrawal. This is the conclusion of virtually everyone who has looked at the issue, except for some McCain’s supporters. McCain, in short, has smeared Romney.

As these sorts of transgressions go, we have certainly heard worse. In fact, McCain has heard worse about himself, though perhaps not directly from the lips of an opponent. Moreover, politics ain’t beanbag, and this is crunch time.

Still, McCain’s twisting of Romney’s words came during the same weak that McCain falsely implied that he had not denigrated his own expertise in economics. Indeed, the smear on Romney may have been part of an attempt to change the subject from the economy, and to deflect attention from McCain’s past admissions about his level of knowledge in this area.

In any case, what we are now getting from McCain is less than straight talk.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Is this the man we want in the oval office?

[psjones]

Nope, and if McCain should become the republican nominee, that comment he made about his lack of knowledge of the economy will come back to bite him. Big time. Stupid to have said it, even if that’s the case.

[counterpunch]

Still, McCain’s twisting of Romney’s words came during the same [week] that McCain falsely implied that he had not denigrated his own expertise in economics. Indeed, the smear on Romney may have been part of an attempt to change the subject from the economy, and to deflect attention from McCain’s past admissions about his level of knowledge in this area.

This is the bottom line right there.
McCain has admitted he doesn't know anything about the economy, which makes him totally unfit to be President.
Which must be why he is making the patently false and ridiculous claims that Romney is unfit because he called for withdrawal from Iraq.

I recall one of the underlying concerns many Republicans have cited about McCain is that sooner or later he will meltdown and implode due to his temper and his thin skin.
It looks like we are witnessing that now.
 

[papasmurf]

Neither of them are fit to drive the campaign bus, let alone lead our Country.