Following up on an earlier item, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), described as John McCain’s “brain” on economic matters, and the man whose financial deregulation efforts make the market meltdown possible, told the far-right Washington Times that the economy is great; Americans just don’t realize it.
Gramm said we’re in the midst of a “mental recession,” adding, “We have sort of become a nation of whiners…. You just hear this constant whining.”
Shortly thereafter, Obama campaign spokesperson Bill Burton was hammering McCain: “One of Senator McCain’s top economic advisors may think that when people are struggling with lost jobs, stagnant wages, and the rising costs of everything from gas to groceries, it’s merely a ‘mental recession’. And Senator McCain may think it’s sufficient to offer energy proposals that he admits will have mainly ‘psychological’ benefits. But the American people know that our economic problems aren’t just in their heads. They don’t need psychological relief – they need real relief – and that’s what Barack Obama will provide as President.”
The McCain campaign, on the defensive, eventually distanced itself from Gramm’s comments.
“Phil Gramm’s comments are not representative of John McCain’s views. John McCain travels the country every day talking to Americans who are hurting, feeling pain at the pump and worrying about how they’ll pay their mortgage. That’s why he has a realistic plan to deliver immediate relief at the gas pump, grow our economy and put Americans back to work.”
A McCain campaign official told Greg Sargent that the campaign is concerned enough about the controversial Gramm quotes that McCain will personally “address Gramm’s comments to reporters on his plane today.”
There are two big problems with this.
First, while the McCain campaign came to realize that Gramm’s remarks pose a real political headache, that wasn’t the campaign’s initial response.
[I]n an initial statement published by Politico and then, seemingly, removed from its site, a McCain campaign aide actually stood by Gramm’s remarks, saying the interview as a whole was merely meant as a preview of the Senator’s economic agenda.
“Mr. Gramm was simply saying that we are laying out the economic plan this week,” the piece quoted a “McCain official” as saying. “The plan is comprehensive, providing immediate near-term relief for Americans hurting today as well as longer-term solutions to get our economy back on track, secure our energy future and deliver jobs, prosperity and opportunity for the next generation. We’re laying out that plan this week with an emphasis on the critical importance of job creation, and it’s been a great success so far.”
Only after the fallout from Gramm’s statement did the McCain campaign fully backtrack…. The two statements – the first one issued to Politico and the one offered to the press list this morning – are diametrically different. And they seem to reflect recognition, by the McCain camp, that Gramm’s remark on the economy is simply un-spinnable.
And second, while one assumes that McCain will continue to insist that he appreciates just how much working families are struggling, and doesn’t agree with Gramm’s remarks at all, there’s McCain’s own record of rhetoric to deal with.
In January, McCain said the problems with the economy are in our heads: “A lot of this is psychological. A lot of it’s psychological. Because I agree the fundamentals of our economy is still strong.”
And in April, McCain said, “[A] lot of our problems today are psychological.” He said he intended to give voters “a little psychological boost,” in lieu of a meaningful policy.
And in June, McCain said he’s still focused on the “psychological impact” of various policies.
For that matter, let’s not forget that McCain’s policy record reflects this elitist thinking. Because McCain believes our systemic economic problems are psychological, it leads him to oppose minimum-wage increases, and support hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the very wealthy.
It’s relatively easy for McCain to distance himself from Gramm’s comments about our psychological, but if reporters aboard McCain’s plane can put down the barbecue and donuts long enough, maybe they can press the Republican candidate this afternoon on his own out-of-touch record.