I suppose there’s nothing more embarrassing for a politician than to make a mistake by accidentally saying what he or she really believes. Take John McCain, for example.
Matt Lauer asked McCain this morning whether the senator now has “a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq.” McCain said, “No, but that’s not too important. What’s important is the casualties in Iraq.” The response, not surprisingly, hasn’t gone over well, and has drawn sharp rebukes from McCain critics.
But what’s truly entertaining about all of this is watching the McCain campaign struggle to come up with a coherent response. It’s almost consistent with the five stages of grief.
First up, denial — the remarks weren’t unusual or a break with previous statements.
“Sen. McCain has consistently opposed a timeline for withdrawing our troops from Iraq. And our friends on the opposite side of the aisle have a long history of attempting to twist Sen. McCain’s words on Iraq. The fact that Sen. McCain opposes a timeline for withdrawal and is principally concerned about the safety of American troops and the security of Iraq is pretty much ‘dog bites man.'”
Next, anger — the remarks were taken out of context.
“The Obama campaign is embarking on a false attack on John McCain to hide their own candidate’s willingness to disregard facts on the ground in pursuit of withdrawal no matter what the costs. John McCain was asked if he had a ‘better estimate’ for a timeline for withdrawal. As John McCain has always said, that is not as important as conditions on the ground and the recommendations of commanders in the field. Any reasonable person who reads the full transcript would see this and reject the Obama campaign’s attempt to manipulate, twist and distort the truth.”
Then, bargaining — don’t believe your lying eyes, consider an alternate spin on the meaning of McCain’s plain words.
Advisor Randy Scheunemann said McCain was calling the question of whether he, John McCain, had an estimate “not too important,” not the question of when troops will come home.
Then, depression — don’t try to understand the comments, because McCain was a POW.
“I mean the obvious fact is that more than most any American, Senator McCain knows the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform make, and the burden that their families bear. And it really is wrong to suggest otherwise. And obviously he knows that from his own — well, from his father’s service, and the impact it had on his family; from his own service and incarceration…“
I realize why these guys are spinning like tops. Most Americans — especially the troops and their families — don’t want to a hear a prospective candidate say that it’s “not too important” when the troops come home from Iraq. But the problem is, and the reason the campaign can’t come up with a coherent response, is that McCain actually believes what he said.
Josh Marshall explained:
Sometimes these references by McCain are treated as gaffes but they’re not. This is what McCain believes: that we should have a long-term troop presence in Iraq to guarantee the survival of a pro-U.S. government and assert power in the region. That’s not a crazy position. That’s the position of the current administration. That’s why we’re currently trying to secure an agreement with the Iraqis to ratify that goal. The problem isn’t that McCain’s position is incomprehensible. It’s just not popular. Most Americans think reducing casualties is important too. But they’d like to do both — reduce casualties and leave too.
The problem for the McCain campaign is that he keeps stumbling into clear statements of his actual policy, which is close to lethal since the vast majority of Americans disagree with his policy and Iraq is virtually the only thing he’s running on. The context the McCain campaign keeps trying to put forward after the fact is what they wished he’d said rather than what he did. And even that, when you push deep, isn’t that different from McCain’s actual policy, which is that he doesn’t think we should be leaving Iraq for years to come, most likely decades.
As for the stages of grief, we’re still waiting for McCain & Co. to get to acceptance.