As I've noted a few times before, one of the key dynamics of the coming
general election race is the unwillingness of most re****ters to scrutinize
John McCain's claims and statements to determine whether they are either
accurate, contradicted by other public statements or even if they make any
sense. One example is the current tussle between McCain and Obama over a
pledge to opt in to the public financing system for the general election.
McCain is insisting Obama honor his 'pledge' to opt in to the public
financing system if his Republican opponent (McCain) agrees to do the
same.
Now, Obama's going to have to deal with the pledge issue on his own. But
it's impossible to re****t on this gambit of McCain without at least one
spit
take. And probably a few more.
Back in August McCain opted into the public financing system for the
primaries. Then in December he needed to come up with some cash quickly.
Well, no problem. He was already guaranteed over $5 million from the feds.
So all he needed to do was put that guarantee down as collateral for the
loan.
Only McCain didn't want to do that because once he formally made the
federally-guaranteed money collateral then he gave up his right to later
opt
back out of the system.
But, he really, really needed the money. So McCain, along with his
campaign
finance lawyer Trevor Potter (whom I've met and is a very sharp guy) came
up
with a workaround. It went like this. McCain wouldn't make the guarantee
collateral. But he promised that if his campaign tanked he would opt out
of
the system and then opt back in. This would mean remaining a candidate
even
after he knew he wasn't really in the race in order to a) get back the
public money to pay his creditors and b) assure he could sign the original
loan note with the de facto collateral while nonetheless maintaining his
ability to once again opt out of the public financing system at any one of
many possible future junctures at which his campaign might pop back from
life sup****t and it would be in his interest to go back to raising money
from donors.
Of course, McCain's campaign did come off the mat. And since he now wants
to
raise and spend as much as possible before the end of the summer, earlier
this month he did actually opt back out. The FEC, the outfit that enforces
the campaign finance laws, says McCain's not allowed to opt out. But
whatever, he opted out anyway.
Explain to me how this guy gets out of the gate attacking anyone else
about
honoring pledges tied to the campaign finance system.
McCain's other angle over the last few days has been to call Obama naive
for
saying he would take military action in Pakistan, even without the
Pakistanis' permission if they wouldn't give it. But according to the
Post,
that's exactly what the administration did only a month ago when they used
Hellfire missiles to kill Abu Laith al-Libi, a top al-Qaeda commander in
Pakistan. Here was McCain's response ...
Asked about that account as he drove to this small town to address a
snowbound crowd at Young's Jersey Dairy, known for ice cream, McCain
demurred, saying he did not know the facts of the situation. But he said
Obama was still wrong in speaking publicly about the option.
"The one thing you want to do is not embarrass them," he said. "I've known
these people and I have known them for many years. I know I can work with
them for the good of the security of the United States. I would not
broadcast to the world that I am going to bomb a sovereign nation in order
to accomplish my goal."
Ask Napalm Johnny about the Keating 5 or the Lobbyist Iseman scandal, huh
republican media?
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