Politics means never, every admitting that you made a mistake, no matter how obvious it is to everyone but you. John McCain demonstrates this when he answered a question about whether he chose Palin over Romney because of problems with his tax returns:
Asked why he chose not to go with Romney, McCain said: “Oh come on, because we thought that Sarah Palin was the better candidate. Why did we not take [Tim] Pawlenty, why did we not take any of the other 10 other people. Why didn’t I? Because we had a better candidate, the same way with all the others. … Come on, why? That’s a stupid question.”
There’s that famous McCain prickliness, which is not unusual when you say something you know sounds stupid. So you make up for that with bluster. But his campaign manager does say that Romney’s wealth was seen as a liability:
Steve Schmidt, McCain’s top campaign adviser in 2008, told the Huffington Post that the contents of the tax returns were not viewed as a problem for their campaign. But Romney’s vast wealth was seen as a political liability that McCain could ill afford, he said.
“Sen. McCain got caught flat-footed answering a question about how many houses he owned,” Schmidt told the news website. “In fact, they were Cindy McCain’s properties but that distinction was lost in the political optics and we knew it would be a big liability that the presidential and the vice presidential candidates together owned more than a dozen homes. It was like something out of a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit. I mean, come on.”
And Palin brought that faux-folksiness to the campaign that it wanted so badly. What she didn’t add was competence, intelligence or any understanding of policy.
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slc1
July 20, 2012 at 10:46 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
What she didn’t add was competence, intelligence or any understanding of policy.
Of course, the same thing might be said about Romney.
Raging Bee
July 20, 2012 at 10:55 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
One moment McCain is bravely attacking fellow Republican Michelle Bachmann for her scapegoating crusade against nonexistent Muslim Brotherhood infiltration; next he’s caving and desperately trying to defend another Republican who’s just as stupid, dishonest and destructive as Bachmann. What a sad, pathetic state for a once-decent person to sink to.
Raging Bee
July 20, 2012 at 10:57 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“…we knew it would be a big liability that the presidential and the vice presidential candidates together owned more than a dozen homes. It was like something out of a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit. I mean, come on.”
How much more ironic can we get here?
Dennis N
July 20, 2012 at 11:09 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Obviously, that’s a tautology. Every ticket chooses the candidate they think is the best, the question was WHY, and he didn’t answer it.
d cwilson
July 20, 2012 at 11:10 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
So, McCain is now on record as saying that Palin was a “better candidate” than Romney. Couple that with the clips of Gingrich calling Romney a liar and Santorum calling him the worst republican candidate ever.
Republicans are now writing Obama’s campaign ads for him.
Abby Normal
July 20, 2012 at 11:13 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I saw a great headline for this story: McCain Frightens Everyone, Says Palin Was Best Option Available.
vmanis1
July 20, 2012 at 11:18 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I take McCain’s statement at face value. Romney, he thought, would have been an even worse candidate (and VP?) than Palin.
This is obviously true, as we have not heard from Rich Lowry about any orgasms he’s had thinking of Mr Romney.
Dr X
July 20, 2012 at 11:26 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
That would be like Romney choosing Michael Vick as his running mate.
timpayne
July 20, 2012 at 11:38 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“…once-decent person…” When, pray tell, was that? Anyone making such a statement about McCain should (re)read this
brief bio from Rolling Stone in 2008. He’s been pretty much a skunk from grade school days till now, occasionally taking time off to be a worm.
naturalcynic
July 20, 2012 at 11:39 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I don’t think that this is out of character at all. McCain has always been a mix of courageous acts mixed with eye-rolling stupidity.
Bronze Dog
July 20, 2012 at 11:50 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
My parents used to vote Republican, and they were once fans of McCain. His choice of Palin caused a huge disillusionment. For them, it marked a complete lack of judgement and the shallowest of pandering. They were happy to vote for Obama.
My family had a big talk about politics in general yesterday and how loony, disorganized, and out of touch Republicans are. My brother brought up his perspective that Obama’s confident enough that he’s actually trolling them in various ways, like a wink he did when talking about birtherism, causing a lot of the nuts to explode with the crazed idea that the wink was a confession, just so people would be reminded how crazy the Republican opposition is.
Larry
July 20, 2012 at 11:56 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
A vindictive, willfully ignorant, unread, unprincipled half-term governor and full-time grifter was Grandpa’s best option available. That really sends home the message how pathetic the GOP has become.
busterggi
July 20, 2012 at 2:29 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
McCain lost because he had blown away all credibility as an intelligent moderate Republican before he ever chose Palin.
brian
July 20, 2012 at 3:10 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
When your choices are a crazy person or a crazy person with a tax problem, go with the crazy person.
Chiroptera
July 20, 2012 at 3:15 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“In fact, they were Cindy McCain’s properties….”
And this changes the essential charges against McCain’s wealth how? Was he in imminent danger of being divorced and forced to sleep underneath a bridge?