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McCain <i>still</i> doesn’t speak for the McCain campaign

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Following up on an item from yesterday, John McCain has said, repeatedly and on the record, that he would never consider raising payroll taxes as part of a Social Security reform effort. Asked if there are “any circumstances” in which he would consider this, even as part of negotiations with congressional Democrats, McCain said, “No. None. None.”

Over the weekend, McCain said the exact opposite, explaining that a payroll tax increase is on the table, much to the consternation of conservative activists.

Trying to tamp down on a potential controversy, Tucker Bounds, McCain’s chief spokesperson, went on Fox News yesterday to insist that voters should ignore what they heard McCain tell a national television audience 48 hours earlier.

KELLY: You’re off point. We’re talking on a go-forward basis. McCain gets in the White House, is he going to raise the payroll tax? Might the Social Security tax go up? Is that on the table?

BOUNDS: No Megyn there is no imaginable circumstance where John McCain would raise payroll taxes. It’s absolutely out of the question.

Got that? On Sunday, McCain said a payroll tax increase could be part of a negotiation. On Tuesday, McCain’s spokesperson said a payroll tax increase is “absolutely out of the question.”

And who should we believe? McCain or the person McCain hired to speak on behalf of his campaign? If recent history is any guide, it’s the latter.

When the Tax Policy Center reported on a disconnect between the economic policies espoused by the candidate and the economic policies espoused by the campaign, McCain aides effectively said we should ignore the candidate.

After the Tax Policy Center released a report showing a $2.8 trillion gap between Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) public economic proposals and his advisers’ private assurances, top econ adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin told Slate that just because McCain says something publicly about a policy, “that doesn’t mean it’s official.”

More recently, McCain said he supports an Arizona measure to do away with affirmative action, a reversal of his previous position. Asked about the flip-flop, the McCain campaign refused to say if McCain actually supports the Arizona ballot measure, despite the fact that we’d just heard McCain says he does support it. The message was fairly obvious — just because McCain said it, doesn’t mean that this is his actual position on the issue.

Now, we have yet another example. On Sunday, McCain is open to raising the payroll tax. On Tuesday, his campaign insists McCain is open to no such thing.

Let this be a lesson to all of us — if we want to better understand John McCain’s policies, we should overlook what John McCain says about his policies. McCain’s “official” positions don’t always come from McCain.

How are voters to know the difference? When McCain announces a position, how is the public to know whether it’s “official” or one of the policies he doesn’t really mean?

I had the same reaction to all of this as Kevin: “Is McCain running for president of the United States or is he trying out for a part in some high-concept wacky political comedy? He needs to make up his mind.”

Comments

  • zhak

    says:

    I wonder if the people McCain addresses realizes that what he says isn’t necessarily an “official” position?

  • Steve

    says:

    This is what happens when you let the puppet pull its own string. I wonder—do you suppose any of the McCainiacs have thought about wholesale plastic surgery for Dubya? Take several inches out of his femurs, modify his hair-style, put a little melanoma makeup on his face and a golf-ball in his left cheek….

    AAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEAHH! Damn—I scared myself….

  • JoeW

    says:

    The sole criteria is whatever sounds good at this very second. Then, when that doesn’t play as hoped, whoever said it doesn’t speak for the campaign – McSame included. Does anything ever come from McSame’s campaign that’s not 100%, unadulterated BS?

  • SteveT

    says:

    How are voters to know the difference? When McCain announces a position, how is the public to know whether it’s “official” or one of the policies he doesn’t really mean?

    McCain should borrow from the old Monty Python’s Flying Circus show (Or should that be ‘programme’?):

    “Now when I’m wearing the antlers, I”m speaking for my campaign. When I’m not wearing the antlers I’m saying whatever pops into my confused little mind.”

    Or was that too obscure?

  • Dennis-SGMM

    says:

    Maybe McCain needs to get a pair of false antlers a la Monty Python’s Biggles Sketch;
    “When I am wearing these antlers I am speaking for my campaign. When they’re off, I’m not.”

  • kanopsis

    says:

    McCain aides effectively said we should ignore the candidate.

    And why not? It’s the same playbook that they ran with dubya. He hasn’t really been president these last eight years now has he? Don’t be surprised if whomever is heading up the VP search anoints himself the best candidate for the position. That will be the real person to watch out for…

  • YaMeVoy

    says:

    McCain’s reason not to listen to Phil Gramm was that only McCain speaks for McCain. That may be true but apparently McCain does not speak for the campaign.

  • tai hunter

    says:

    I’m starting to believe McCain is throwing this thing. Maybe he realizes Obama would be a great step to fixing this country, and is taking on for the team. Way to go McCain! True Maverick!!

  • Joey

    says:

    “…“Is McCain running for president of the United States or is he trying out for a part in some high-concept wacky political comedy? He needs to make up his mind.”..”

    To which McCain laughingly replies, “Bomb,bomb,bomb…bomb,bomb Iran…”

  • agentX

    says:

    OK, now my head hurts. The mental math on this incident is startlingly bad.
    The candidate doesn’t speak for the campaign now? OK, who are we voting for then? A cardboard box?