McCain Stumps Bluntly at Sun City: Presidential Hopeful Shows Tough and Funny Side During S.C. Stop
By Jim Morrill, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.
Oct. 18–SUN CITY CAROLINA LAKES, S.C. — His bus is called the Straight Talk Express, and U.S. Sen. John McCain himself was nothing if not blunt on Wednesday.
The U.S. senator from Arizona spoke to about 150 seniors at Sun City, a retirement development just over the state line in Lancaster County.
He was returning to a state where his once commanding lead among Republican hopefuls has faded. Polls now show him running third or fourth in the state that holds the South’s first GOP primary on Jan. 19.
McCain said former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld “badly mismanaged” the war in Iraq. He repeated his support for a guest worker program for illegal immigrants, a position widely unpopular in the state. And he blamed a Republican Congress for GOP losses last November.
“Why did we lose our Republican base?” he asked. “Because we let spending get completely out of control.”
McCain was equally blunt in responding to a pair of questions.
Pete Floyd, 72, asked him why he hadn’t signed the no-tax pledge pushed by conservative Grover Norquist’s group, Americans for Tax Reform.
“I’ll stand on my record,” McCain replied. “I don’t need Mr. Norquist or anybody else to tell me what to do … I’m not going to be dictated to by some special interest.”
Turning to Floyd, he added, “If that piece of paper is important to … help you decide who to vote for, I’m not your man.”
McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, grew testy in another exchange. Sun City resident Ed Nowokunski, who later described himself as an Air Force veteran, named some mutual POW-friends and told McCain they had described him in one word: “politician.”
“I’m frankly astonished, and I don’t believe you,” McCain said, abruptly turning away for another question.
McCain did flash some humor.
He noted that among those accompanying him was his 95-year-old mother, Roberta.
“Occasionally my age comes up,” joked the 71-year-old candidate. “And that’s why I have to take her with me wherever I go.”
While saying the war had been mismanaged, McCain defended his support for it. He told about being asked by the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq to make sure her son had not died in vain.
“Many political experts have said John McCain’s chance of being elected president has been permanently hurt by his support for the surge in Iraq,” McCain said. “They may be right.”
McCain’s own background was one reason some people came to see him.
“He’s an American hero,” said Sun City resident Robert Tompkins, 63. “The other (candidates) have done their duty, but this guy is above and beyond.”
A Reader’s Question
Q. With crude oil prices at record highs why have no candidates addressed a comprehensive energy policy as the most important issue facing this country? ROBERT DRAYTON, Charlotte.
McCain. “I talk about it all the time. … It’s got to be a high priority.” Keys to energy independence, he said, include ethanol, nuclear power, wind, solar power, and more research.
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