McCain denies grabbing Sandinista (WHY?!)

Politico ^ | July 02, 2008 | Jonathan Martin

[Cinnamon Girl]

Asked about Thad Cochran's claim, McCain said at a press conference today in Colombia that it's "simply not true."

"I had many, many meetings with the Sandinistas," McCain said. "I must say, I did not admire the Sandinistas much. But there was never anything of that nature. It just didn't happen."

A former foreign policy adviser to McCain who was on the 1987 trip corroborates to the AP his former boss's recounting.

[Cinnamon Girl]

This was Cochran's comment: "McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerrilla group here at this end of the table and I don't know what attracted my attention," Cochran said in an interview with The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss. "But I saw some kind of quick movement at the bottom of the table and I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever ...

"I don't know what he was telling him but I thought, 'Good grief, everybody around here has got guns and we were there on a diplomatic mission.' I don't know what had happened to provoke John, but he obviously got mad at the guy ... and he just reached over there and snatched ... him."

WHY WOULD MCCAIN DENY THIS? My first thought when I read this story about him grabbing a Sandinista and yanking him up by the collar was: "that's hot." I think it helps his image, but I guess he's still concerned that people think his temper is out of control.

There's a few people I can think of that I'd like to see John Sidney grab by the collar. Cochran did him a favor with this story. Doesn't Schmidt know that?

[HerrBlucher]

If its not true he should deny it. If it is true he should admit it. That is what I would do anyway. I would not want to take credit for something I didn’t do.

[CedarDave]

Being in politics for so long, McCain has a long history for the press to investigate and you can be sure none of it will be favorable to the candidate.

Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center was on F&F this morning and confirmed for any that don’t know that the press was for Hillary until Obama came along and then threw her under the bus. McCain is seeing that now, though whether he will recognize and learn that the press is not his friend (like it was when he was their darling maverick Republican) remains to be seen. Bozell said the press theme for the Democratic convention will be “unity” and for the Republican convention it will be “controversy.”

[lexusppd]

He MUST deny it if it is not true. All we have is the word of a man who admittedly dislikes McCain. Why believe him? McCain surely knows that to deny something easily provable is a huge mistake and this sort of thing is not something a person easily forgets he has done.

If there is no film of the incident it is a non story. I agree that what there is of this story would reflect favorably on McCain, at least with me it does.

[mkjessup]

Good gawd JohnnyMac, just let it ride and don’t worry about it. You wanna grab somebody by the lapels and slap ‘em around?

Wait for the first presidential debate. Grab Obama-lama-ding-dong by the shirt and say “lookee here, you g*d@mned Chicago-punk, I was spitting teeth in a friggin’ Communist prison while you were learning to kiss allah’s AZZ! You wanna be President? Run for President of Indonesia! ***WHACK***”

Oh ok, it was a fun fantasy.

[meandog]

He MUST deny it if it is not true. All we have is the word of a man who admittedly dislikes McCain. Why believe him? McCain surely knows that to deny something easily provable is a huge mistake and this sort of thing is not something a person easily forgets he has done. If there is no film of the incident it is a non story. I agree that what there is of this story would reflect favorably on McCain, at least with me it does.

It would reflect favorably on me as well but I doubt it would with the electorate as a whole. It would only bolster Mac's reputation as a hot-tempered brawler...

[murron]

He may be denying it because it may not have happened. Even if it helps his image, he shouldn’t perpetuate a non-truth.

[Cinnamon Girl]

I guess it's a pickle because he's probably wary of saying he doesn't recall the meeting going down that way because then he'll be accused of being too old to remember. But it sounds like something that could have happened, and I don't know if it did or didn't. And now McCain is calling Cochran, who supports him, a liar, in a sense. Obviously I agree that if nothing remotely occurred like that and McCain is certain of that, then he would have to say so, but this is the kind of story that I think helps him not to appear too elderly.

[ncalburt]

why did Cochran say this crap ? It took place 25 years ago ?

[Redcloak]

Hmmm... He’s denying Cochran’s portrayal of him as an angry hothead who doesn’t belong anywhere near the nuclear football... Hmmm...

Why, indeed, would he do that?

[ncalburt]

McCain hater or OBama drone alert.I guess you rather have the Marxist and his Weatherman friends giving back our Nucs.

[Redcloak]

um... Maybe you need to re-read my previous post.

[ncalburt]

Sorry, I took your posts out of context .I am sick of this Politico peddling for Obama . Its a pack of former Wash Compost lefties .The same writers that destroyed Sen Allen.This idiot Martin is a moron.

[vietvet67]

lol

[Redcloak]

No worries.

The question we ought to be asking is: “Why is Thad Cochran trying to send Obama to the White House?”

[Cinnamon Girl]

I don’t think he is. I really think this story helps McCain.

[Redcloak]

No, this doesn't help him a bit. Ask yourself; "What's McCain's reputation?" You can find the answer right here on FreeRepublic. How many of us have called him "McCrazy" over the past 12 months? (C'mon people... Raise your hands... I've got mine up!) If we thinks he's a little nuts, what might Joe Sixpack and his li'l Missus think?

This story from Cochran was calculated to make McCain look unfit for office. (And by process of elimination, make Obama look like "the presidential one".)

[Natchez Hawk]

Politics makes him deny his coolness.

[submarinerswife]

My first thought:

Is McCain physically capable of this? Can't lift his arms past his shoulders?

I think this is BS.

[Cinnamon Girl]

I think the latest way he’s being trashed is as a feeble senior citizen. Floating a story about him getting a little rough with a Sandinista is contrary to that image. Yes, I used to call him McCrazy, too, but I don’t think that anymore. And getting ticked off with the bad guys doesn’t sound bad to me. I think it’s a huge stretch to conclude that he’d go ape and set off a nuclear attack on someone.