Rough summary - McCain new media/blogger conf-call, Thu Aug 2
Here is a concise summary of the new media/blogger conference call, in which Senator McCain participated at approximately 2 PM on Thursday, August 2.
There are certain isolated sentences, but which essentially convey the gist of the questions and answers.
It began at 2:12 PM.
Opening Remarks
Senator McCain apologized for the small delay in getting started, saying that he had just come from the floor to vote against the ethics bill, which he described as ”a sham” and ”a joke”. He also noted that “Republicans were not included in the conference.” “It will contribute to the cynicism that the American people have about how we do business in Washington.”
Second issue - Iraq - “we are now looking at having General Petraeus come to Congress on the 10th or 11th of September.”
“We are all disappointed with the Maliki government”.
2:17 - McCain opens the floor to questions
1st Question - from Ryan Sager - NY Sun
Two parts - a) Rupert Murdoch/WSJ deal in particular - is it good?
b) media consolidation in general - is it good?
Senator McCain’s reply - I don’t think it warrants concern by the American people.
This phone call is a manifestation of the access that Americans have to various sources of information.
Family newspapers - “the children get more widespread and they want to get some money out of it” - so they tend to sell out to corporations.
2nd Question - Jennifer Rubin - Human Events
Two-parts - what should we do about your Senate colleagues’ behavior per Judge Southwick?
Senator McCain - “His treatment is more than outrageous - he’s guilty of nothing more than being a strict constructionist.”
Appropriateness about Stevens’ continuing to sit on his committee-
“Senator Stevens and I have never been particularly close, but he deserves a chance to prove his innocence.”
“I am even more proud about the Gang of 14 and what we were able to accomplish in terms of getting judges confirmed.”
Rubin - “But the Gang of 14 isn’t advancing Southwick… is it still effective?”
McCain- “The Gang of 14 no longer functions, because the GOP no longer is in control of the Senate. It’s yet another example of the fact that elections have consequences.”
3rd Question - Philip Klein - American Spectator - per Barack Obama and his strategy for fighting terrorism
McCain: There are a lot of ways of achieving military/diplomatic goals, without threatening to bomb a sovereign country. Just to announce your belligerence… all of these national-security questions are nuanced…
Question on Obama’s campaign - McCain said that he didn’t follow Obama’s campaign closely, but speaking for himself:
we will follow OBL to the ends of the earth, but we will employ those methods that are least damaging to the U.S.’s national interest and achieve our goals, without threatening to send B-52s and carpet-bomb them….
4th Question - James Joyner - Outside the Beltway - ethics bill - why didn’t we do something when we were in the majority… Iraq
McCain - Spending, out-of-control earmarking, and scandals were the reason we lost the 2006 elections. Credits Graham, Coburn, DeMint. “There are three kinds of Senators- Democratic Senators, Republican Senators, and Appropriators. I think that we’ve paid a very heavy price for our failure to act.”
Iraq - “my greatest concern is the Maliki government. Diplomatically, we are seeing some stirrings of cooperation in the region.”
Quotes someone as saying “Success in Iraq could really screw up the Democrats’ plans”, laughing.
“Our problems are more on the diplomatic and political side, not the military. The consequences of placing political ambitions ahead of national interests…”
“Political parties don’t lose wars, nations lose wars.”
5th Question - Michael Goldfarb - Weekly Standard - what’s the mood in the Senate on Petraeus?
McCain - Some of them who do agonize over this - they are at least willing to give it a second look. I don’t want to say that things are rosy or things are great. But I hear from these men and women all the time, via e-mail and through other sources, there’s been a turnaround in their morale. Now they’re seeing progress, and it has had a positive effect on their morale.
6th Question - Betsy Newmark - Betsy’s Page - subsidies for ethanol?
McCain - I have never supported subsidies for ethanol. I am for ethanol (as opposed to the subsidies for them) now, and not necessarily because of my presidential ambitions, but because when oil was $10 a barrel, who needs ethanol? Now that it’s $70 a barrel, it’s more practical…
On protectionism –
McCain - Adamantly opposed - I stood fifth from the bottom of my class at the Naval Academy, but I am a student of history. And every time in the history of the U.S., when protectionist policies have been adopted, they have been disastrous I am the most free-trading senator you will probably ever talk to.
7th Question - Paul Mirengoff – Powerline
Per your success w/ independent voters in 2000 - with war in Iraq so unpopular w/ independents, what issues can galvanize I’s on your behalf?
McCain: Honesty/integrity, town hall meetings - they may disagree w/ me, but that my views are honestly held and well-informed, and that I will do what I think is right.
The immigration issue was as damaging to me as any issue, ever, during my political career. It was my failure, to convince the American people that we would secure the borders. As President, I will take further steps to assure that the borders will be secured.
It [immigration] has been more damaging to me that the war has been, because it’s so fraught with emotion. But I have to do what I think is right.
What’s more important for me, is to establish that people can trust me to do what is right in the future- they’re not as interested in the past.
The failure of immigration reform, was because they don’t have trust in us - the Congress - and I must say, the President - to secure the borders.
Moderator - Two more questions…
McCain - Three more questions!
Moderator – OK
8th Question - Patrick Curley - Badger Blogger - ethics bill
McCain: I voted against cloture and voted against it. It’s a sham, it’s a travesty.
Per earmarks - transparency - it’s got to be subject to challenge on the floor of the Senate. I’m not saying that all earmarks are bad. I don’t like them, I don’t do them. But they should be transparent.
9th Question - Doug Lambert - GraniteGrok
issues of POW status and classifications
10th Question from Soren Dayton - Eyeon08.com
asked about Mitt Romney’s statement that - if Petraeus comes back with a positive report, we can pull out…
McCain - I haven’t heard what Petraeus isn’t going to say that we’ll be able to withdraw. He’s going to say that progress has been made, but to say that just b/c Petraeus makes a positive report, we should withdraw - that is a very serious misreading of the severity of the situation, that still exists over there.
Per Obama saying we should never use nuclear weapons:
McCain - Obviously, we should never preclude the use of them, because there are always scenarios where they might be necessary. You never want to use it, but let’s be clear - to announce to the world that we’ll never use a nuclear weapon under any circumstances - if that’s the case, let’s save the taxpayers a lot of money and stop building them. I hadn’t previously heard that, so I’m a bit taken aback by it.
At 2:48 PM, Senator McCain concluded, by saying that:
“we will do this again, either next week or the week after. Thank you very much for participating. I’m really sorry that we didn’t get it done on the ethics bill. I look forward to seeing you out on the campaign trail…”
So it lasted around 36 minutes…
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