McCain’s memory seems to fail him
June 9th, 2008 at 10:09am Pat Cunningham
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In the prepared text of his infamous speech of last Tuesday night, John McCain had a line about media coverage of Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
When Newsweek later asked McCain about that line, he said it was dropped from the text when he delivered the speech. “I’m not in the business of commenting on the press and their coverage,” he told the magazine.
Newsweek took McCain at his word, not bothering to check the videotape of the speech. Jonathan Martin of Politico did the same (as we see HERE).
But, in fact, McCain did use the line in question, no matter his categorical protestations to the contrary.
(Scroll down to the comments on Martin’s Politico piece. A few readers set the record straight on what McCain did or didn’t say about Hillary’s press coverage.)
What bothers me  is how this guy could make a statement in a nationally televised speech — and then deny having made that statement. This isn’t just a matter of how the statement was interpreted or what was really meant (as in, for example, Barack Obama’s “bitterness” speech). Rather, this is a case of McCain specifically addressing a subject that he later claims not to have addressed.
Strange.
UPDATE: Politico’s Jonathan Martin finally ACKNOWLEDGES that McCain did utter the line at issue. But Martin doesn’t admit to having muffed the matter to begin with.
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6 Comments Add your own
1. Mike Carroll | June 9th, 2008 at 11:43 am
“Expect open season in the coming campaign for implicitly bashing the elderly as McCain’s political foes and some media personalities stereotype him in ways that are justifiably considered off limits regarding Barack Obama’s race. Still, there is a silver lining for McCain if Clinton’s experience is any guide. Women voters rallied to Clinton in response to the rampant sexism…. Democrats and media commentators who relentlessly mock his age could end up rallying elder votes to his side” — Congressional Quarterly political analyst Craig Crawford.
2. Pat Cunningham | June 9th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Mike: There are two things wrong with Craig Campbell’s analysis. 1) His comparison of the age issue with the race issue is illegitimate. Race is not an impediment to a president making good decisions; advanced age, on the other hand, could be an impediment; 2) His theory about a backlash among seniors is weak. In fact, polls show that seniors are slightly more concerned than the general populace about McCain’s age, as we see here: http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/2008/05/mccain-health-a.html
3. Mike Carroll | June 9th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Stop the presses, I actually agree with Pat. I do happen to think that age is a legitimate issue. I know that there are issues such as memory and stamina that are far different for me than when I was 30 or 40. I think I am able to balance that at work with experience and judgement but at some point that won’t be true. I also know that it varies with individuals. My dad’s mind was as sharp as ever in his early 80’s but that cannot be said today when he is 90 and I think his case is fairly rare.
I only wonder if you would hear the same questions if the Democratic candidate happened to be 71. Somehow, I doubt it.
4. Pat Cunningham | June 9th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
C’mon, Mike: If Barack Obama was a 46-year-old Republican embracing the same positions John McCain does, and McCain was a 71-year-old Democrat embracing the same positions Obama does, you’d still hear a lot about the age issue.
5. Mike Carroll | June 9th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
And one other thing Pat. My decision making and judgement is far superior today given my experience than years ago when I was younger, say 46 if you get my drift.
6. Craig Knauss | June 9th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
My decision making at age 57 is probably better than it was in my forties due to experience. However, my stamina isn’t. An active president can expect to put in a lot of long days, sometimes as long as 16 hours. It is hard to remain sharp that long for anybody, let alone an older person. Remember how many times Ronald Reagan nodded off during meetings, etc.? And his mental abilities were starting to fail also. My father-in-law is 83 and is senile. Like it or not, that’s a reality to deal with.
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