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Tag: Rick Warren

Why did John McCain refer to John Lewis?

August 18, 2008 /

At Saddlebrook, John McCain was asked by Rick Warren to name three wise men he would consult with if he were elected president. Strangely, John McCain spoke about John Lewis. Lewis responds:

In response to McCain’s latest invocation of his name, Rep. Lewis said in a statement requested by Mother Jones, “I cannot stop one human being, even a presidential candidate, from admiring the courage and sacrifice of peaceful protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge or making comments about it.” But, he added, “Sen. McCain and I are colleagues in the US Congress, not confidantes. He does not consult me. And I do not consult him.”

John Lewis is a hero, and it’s proper that McCain and other politicians would honor and respect him, but it’s certainly misleading for McCain to suggest he would consult with Lewis and rely on his counsel. He has not done so in the past, and they agree on very little so it’s obvious he wouldn’t do so much in the future. It doesn’t sound like a very honest answer.

Culture War, President 2008

Did John McCain cheat at Saddlebrook? The “Cone of Silence” controversy deepens

August 18, 2008 /

This is starting to get interesting. The issue at hand is whether John McCain had the opportunity to learn about the questions asked at Rick Warren’s Saddlebrook forum before he took his turn. After a coin flip, Barack Obama went first, and then McCain was interviewed in the second hour. He was supposed to be in a “Cone of Silence” so that he would not have the advantage of hearing the questions ahead of time.

When Andrea Mitchell of NBC first reported that McCain was not in this protected cone of slince for the entire hour before he went onstage, the McCain campaign responded with very strong attacks on Mitchell and NBC News. Perhaps she hit a nerve? Other reporters are now hot on the story, and it’s clear that the McCain campaign has not issued a flat denial that he didn’t get information about the questions through other means like texting or cell phones. Perhaps they will clear that up.

However, most telling is the fact that the McCain campaign issued this statement:

Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.

“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.

As John Aravosis points out, the fact that McCain was a POW does not make him a saint. He is not beyond cheating, and given his past personal history it’s bizarre that the campaign would go down this road. McCain needs to make clear exactly what happened. Otherwise this story could blow up in his face.

Media, President 2008

Rick Warren’s forum

August 16, 2008 /

Both Barack Obama and John McCain did well in Rick Warren’s forum, though McCain was clearly a crowd favorite as he was able to repeat conservative talking points to a mostly conservative crowd. He’s also no longer shy about discussing his time as a POW and he took many opportunities to bring that up. Obama also received plenty of applause, but he had to deal with questions on issues where he disagreed with evangelicals.

Warren had some interesting questions, but he never asked a follow-up question. If he asked a tough question, each candidate could say whatever they liked, because Warren didn’t want to play “gotcha.” In one sense that made it a civil conversation, but both candidates were able to say things without any fear of having the questioner challenge them, and that led to “stump speech” answers that weren’t very enlightening. McCain was able to ham it up with the conservative audience and basically tell them what they wanted to hear.

It will be interesting to see how this plays. Obama came across as thoughtful, but McCain really used it as a campaign event to beef up support with evangelicals. He probably scored points with conservatives, though independents might have been turned off by some of his answers. He drew a very hard line on abortion, which might hurt him with independent women.

Culture War, President 2008

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