I keep expecting John McCain to become a better candidate. Part of me assumes it’s inevitable — the more he campaigns, the more time he has to learn about the issues, receive policy briefings from aides, get prepped for media interviews, etc.
And yet, McCain, oddly enough, seems to be going in the opposite direction. I watched his interview with George Stephanopoulos on yesterday’s “This Week,” and kept thinking, “This guy’s the Republican presidential nominee?”
The interview was, in a sense, a great opportunity for McCain. He’s had a rough couple of weeks, with humiliating mistakes, photo-ops gone awry, obviously dishonest campaign ads, awkward whining, and a slip in the polls. An impressive, nationally-televised interview, in which McCain showed off some policy chops, might have helped McCain turn things around.
Instead, it was a train-wreck.
The first topic of discussion was Iraq.
McCain said, among other things, “I didn’t use the word ‘timetable,'” when in fact he had. McCain said, “We were greeted as liberators,” when in fact we weren’t. Asked if he was wrong about the original decision to go to war in Iraq, McCain said, “Of course not; of course not,” when in fact he was.
But my personal favorite was McCain insistence that 2007 was “the crucial time,” but weighing the merits of the decision to go to war in the first place is “a job for the historians.” According to the senator, the tactics of the war after five years is literally more important than the war itself. 2007 matters, 2003 doesn’t. Got it.
McCain, however, was just getting started.
There was this fascinating exchange on the housing crisis:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s talk about the economy. President Bush in — and adding some unvarnished talk recently about the economy when he didn’t think the cameras were on. I think he said, “Wall Street got drunk, and now we’re going through the hangover.” I know you don’t want to use language like that, but is his basic take right? Is Wall Street the villain here? And what would you do about it?
MCCAIN: I think that Wall Street is the villain in the things that happened in the subprime lending crisis and other areas where investigations and possible prosecution is going on. But I also think that Congress is at fault. We didn’t restrain spending. Spending got completely out of control.
When asked what government spending has to do with the housing and mortgage crisis, McCain began talking about the energy crisis and “gridlock” in Congress. It was as if McCain wasn’t paying any attention to the questions, and just started rambling on for no reason.
On a related note:
STEPHANOPOULOS: And should the government get some stock, so that if Fannie Mae does recover, the taxpayers should benefit?
MCCAIN: Absolutely. Absolutely, they should, in my view. And we’ve got to send the signal that, over time, that these kinds of institutions have not helped the American homeowner.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac haven’t helped American homeowners? Are you kidding?
When McCain started touting a “gas-tax holiday,” Stephanopoulos noted that there isn’t an economist in the country who thinks this would work, and explained that oil companies would simply absorb extra profits.
MCCAIN: [Economists] they say that. But one, it didn’t happen before, and two, we wouldn’t let it happen. We wouldn’t let it — Americans wouldn’t let them absorb that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: How would you prevent that?
MCCAIN: We would make them shamed into it. We, of course, know how to — American public opinion. And we would penalize them, if necessary. But they wouldn’t. They would pass it on.
It’s like listening to a child.
On Social Security, McCain refused to acknowledge his own position, instead arguing that he’d consider anything.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So, that means payroll tax increases are on the table, as well?
MCCAIN: There is nothing that’s off the table. I have my positions, and I’ll articulate them. But nothing’s off the table.
A few weeks ago, McCain said the exact opposite.
And on gay adoption, McCain initially said he’d rather let orphans go without families, then his campaign reversed course, and then yesterday McCain reversed back.
If Democrats are very lucky, McCain will do a lot of these interviews over the next 99 days.