John McCain: Dishonest, Dishonorable, Underbriefed, and Butt-Ignorant
Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post doesn't care whether he gets it right--remember his admission that it was part of his job to uncritically rewrite White House press releases?--but just whether he pleases his sources and his editors. So you trust this only if you trust that his sources are telling the truth. And he doesn't tell you who much about who his sources are.
Nevertheless, interesting--and possibly true:
How McCain Stirred a Simmering Pot: When Sen. John McCain made his way to the Capitol office of House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) just past noon on Thursday, he intended to "just touch gloves" with House Republican leaders, according to one congressional aide, and get ready for the afternoon bailout summit at the White House. Instead, Rep. Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, was waiting to give him an earful....
McCain listened, then... burst into the Senate Republican policy luncheon.... Robert F. Bennett (Utah) and Judd Gregg (N.H.) had been explaining the contours of a deal just reached.... Then McCain spoke. "I appreciate what you've done here, but I'm not going to sign on to a deal just to sign the deal," McCain told the gathering, according to Graham and confirmed by multiple Senate GOP aides. "Just like Iraq, I'm not afraid to go it alone if I need to." For a moment, as Graham described it, "you could hear a pin drop. It was just unbelievable." Then pandemonium. By the time the meeting broke up, the agreement touted just hours before -- one that Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), the No. 3 GOP leader, estimated would be supported by more than 40 Senate Republicans -- was in shambles....
McCain's dramatic announcement Wednesday that he would suspend his campaign and come to Washington for the bailout talks had wide repercussions.... The breakdown was serious enough that word reached Paulson. Just 25 minutes before the scheduled meeting at the White House, Paulson phoned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to alert her to trouble....
Pelosi said Obama would speak for the Democrats. Though later he would pepper Paulson with questions, according to a Republican in the room, his initial point was brief: "We've got to get something done." Bush turned to McCain, who joked, "The longer I am around here, the more I respect seniority." McCain then turned to Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to speak first. Boehner was blunt. The plan Paulson laid out would not win the support of the vast majority of House Republicans.... Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, pressed Boehner hard, asking him if he really intended to scrap the deal and start again. No, Boehner replied, he just wanted his members to have a voice. Obama then jumped in to turn the question on his rival: "What do you think of the [insurance] plan, John?" he asked repeatedly. McCain did not answer....
McCain emerged alone, shook the hands of the Marines at the door and left. The aides were baffled. The plan had been for a bipartisan appearance before the media, featuring McCain, Obama and at least a firm statement in favor of intervention. Now, one of the leading men was gone.... Obama asked if they could duck into a room, and back they went to the ornate, windowless Roosevelt Room. It was then that Paulson gingerly walked in to beg, "Don't blow this up, please." The secretary feared that Democrats would throw their hands up and declare the deal dead. The crowd erupted in unison, all barking at Paulson that they were not the problem -- he needed to talk to his own party. Under the barrage, Paulson dropped to one knee, clasped his hands in front of his face as if he were praying and joked: "Please, please, don't blow this up. Give me some time." "Hank," Pelosi replied, "I didn't know you were Catholic"...
And then Friday John McCain pulls the rug out from under the House Republicans at the debate:
LEHRER: Are you going to vote for the [Paulson] plan, Senator McCain?
MCCAIN: I -- I hope so. And I...
LEHRER: As a United States senator...
MCCAIN: Sure.
LEHRER: ... you're going to vote for the plan?
MCCAIN: Sure. But -- but let me -- let me point out, I also warned about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and warned about corporate greed and excess, and CEO pay, and all that. A lot of us saw this train wreck coming...
And then Saturday--in spite of his declaration Wednesday that reaching an agreement was too important for him to continue campaigning--McCain does absolutely nothing to help reach an agreement but, instead, sits on his butt in one of his eight houses:
Matthew Yglesias: After last night’s debate, John McCain went to his condo in Northern Virginia (one of eight or so houses he owns) and he’s been around there ever since. Why not head to the Hill to help with bailout negotiations? Well:
Asked why Mr. McCain did not go to Capitol Hill after coming back to Washington to help with negotiations, Mr. Salter replied that “he can effectively do what he needs to do by phone.’’
Which of course raises the question of why he had to pretend to suspend his campaign in order to rush physically to Washington last week...
McCain had not read the Paulson plan as of Tuesday evening--indeed, did not even know that the Paulson plan was only three pages long as of Tuesday evening:
ANCHOR: As for the massive Wall Street bailout McCain insists it have...
JSM: Oversight that is effective and transparent. We need people like Warren Buffet and Mike Bloomberg and Mitt Romney to have an oversight of this. We can't put that responsibility in the hands of one person.
ANCHOR: The crunch question. Would you vote for it as it's presently constructed?
JSM: I have not had a chance to see it in writing so I have to examine that...
And as of Saturday evening still has absolutely no idea what the issues are:
I am assured that this is not because McCain is underbriefed. McCain's aides had briefed him carefully. It's an information-retention problem. McCain's aides were as surprised as anybody when he blew up the planned "we gotta pass this" Thursday evening post-White House meeting statement.
