Of all the candidates to talk about civility in the political discourse, John McCain is probably the most ridiculous. But he apparently sees which way the winds are blowing, so the Arizona senator is giving it a shot, hoping desperately that reporters play along and ignore his record.
ABC News’ Bret Hovell Reports: Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that if elected president, he would clean up the nation’s political discourse, and called for an end to negative campaign ads.
“I’m going to raise the level of political dialog in America,” McCain, R-Ariz., said at a campaign rally in central Michigan, “and I’m going to treat my opponents with respect and demand that they treat me with respect.”
As president, McCain said, he’d be able to work well with members of Congress on the Democratic side of the aisle. “We’re going to get a dispute and a debate done, but in a respectful fashion,” McCain said.
This isn’t entirely new. In November, McCain told a group of supporters, “I think people want a respectful debate and a respectful discussion. And if they don’t, then obviously, I’m not the person to be their candidate.” He added, “Legitimate policy differences, those should be debated and discussed. But I don’t think you should take shots at people.”
This is deeply ironic. Campaign coverage generally ignores McCain’s nasty, belligerent side — Newsweek once referred to him as “Senator Hothead” — but the record is overwhelming, and worth considering given his claims about “respect.”
Amanda at TP did a nice job pulling together some recent examples of McCain’s “vicious temper,” which have helped lower the level of our political dialog, but I wanted to flesh this out a bit.
In 1998, McCain was so fond of “respectful discussion” that he told a nasty, tasteless joke about Chelsea Clinton at a Republican Senate fundraiser, describing the president’s daughter as “ugly,” and suggesting that Janet Reno is a man.
Earlier this year, during a back-room discussion on immigration reform, Mr. Respectful Debate started shouting at Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who dared to disagree with him. McCain accused Cornyn of raising petty objections, and Cornyn accused McCain of having dropped in without taking part in the negotiations. “F**k you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room,” McCain shouted. The WaPo added that McCain also “used a curse word associated with chickens.”
In 1999, Jake Tapper reported on an incident in which McCain got into a shouting match with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
Grassley got in McCain’s face, and the two pit bulls started barking at each other while the other senators in the room sat back and watched. The pair got so close to one another that the senator who tells me the story — aware that because of war injuries, McCain’s arms don’t fully extend — was convinced McCain “was going to drive the top of his head into Grassley’s nose. I was convinced that bone fragments were going to go into Chuck’s brain, and I was sitting there and was about to witness a murder.”
McCain suddenly stood up. But instead of a head-butting homicide, he delivered a crushing blow of words.
“You know, senator,” McCain said, seething, “I thought your problem was that you don’t listen. But that’s not it at all. Your problem is that you’re a f**king jerk.”
These apparently aren’t isolated incidents.
“I have witnessed incidents where he has used profanity at colleagues and exploded at colleagues,” said former Senator Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican who served with McCain on the Senate Armed Services Committee and on Republican policy committees. “He would disagree about something and then explode. It was incidents of irrational behavior. We’ve all had incidents where we have gotten angry, but I’ve never seen anyone act like that.”
McCain’s outbursts often erupted when other members rebuffed his requests for support during his bid in 2000 for the Republican nomination for president. A former Senate staffer recalled what happened when McCain asked for support from a fellow Republican senator on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
“The senator explained that he had already committed to support George Bush,” the former Senate staffer said. “McCain said ‘f**k you’ and never spoke to him again.”
Keep in mind, we’re talking about McCain dropping F-bombs on Republicans.
To be sure, McCain has every right to be a jerk. We’ve had presidents who were jerks before; I’m sure we’ll have many more in the future. Chief executives do not have to have class and treat people with dignity in order to get elected. McCain is free to be as cantankerous as he wants to be.
My concern here is one of hypocrisy. If he wants to be taken seriously, McCain shouldn’t shout “F**k you!” at fellow senators one day, and then promise voters that he’s going to “raise the level of political dialog in America” the next. He can’t call his colleagues “f**ing jerks” and then turn around and promise to deliver “respectful” debate.
Now, if only campaign reporters could stop planning their John McCain Fan Club meetings and point this out, it might make a difference.