Earlier Sunday, Colin Powell, a Republican and friend of McCain, had endorsed Obama for president. The move was not a surprise. Powell had offered warm public words for Obama in the past and TWS editor Bill Kristol suggested six weeks ago that such an endorsement was coming. Still, for McCain, it wasn't helpful. Powell made his announcement in dramatic fashion as the exclusive newsmaker on Meet the Press, and had some harsh words for McCain's campaign, saying he was "troubled" and "disappointed." Some of the attacks on Obama, Powell said, had gone "too far."
I noted those words specifically and asked McCain if he had any response to them. "No," he said quietly, shrugging his shoulders with resignation. He paused for a moment then added. "I accept it. I would say I'm disappointed." That was it. So I moved on, asking him about George W. Bush's decision last week to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terror.
"You know, one thing about Colin Powell. I value the endorsement of Haig and Eagleburger, of Jim Baker and Henry Kissinger, as well as many other former national security advisers and more than 200 retired Army generals and admirals," McCain said, repeating a line he had used on Fox News Sunday. Then, without a transition, he answered the North Korea question by strongly disagreeing with Bush's decision--criticizing both the process and the substance of the deal.
"I don't agree with it, and I think we have basically contradicted Ronald Reagan's great dictum of trust
but verify. And particularly--many aspects of this are disturbing--but we told the South Koreans and the Japanese after we had made the decision. That's not a partnership with the allies."
McCain livened up a bit as he talked about the North Korea deal, at one point comparing the Bush administration's efforts on North Korea with the Clinton Administration's failed diplomacy. "It's a decision that I hope we don't regret over time because the North Koreans have a long pattern of breaking--a long history of breaking agreements that are not verifiable. I was very critical of the Clinton agreement--the Agreed Framework as I recall--because I didn't think that one was verifiable and I don't think this one is verifiable."
Engaging the North Koreans in face-to-face talks at the presidential level as Obama has promised to do would present serious risks, McCain argued, with the potential not only for bad deals but embarrassment. He pointed once again to the Clinton administration, citing Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's meetings in Pyongyang. "She had a very nice experience with children dancing while the gulag--the largest gulag in the world continued to function," he said with obvious contempt.
McCain believes that North Korea's nuclear weapons have given them outsized importance. "We would all agree that if it were not for nuclear weapons Kim Jong Il would be about on par with any other small third-world nation on our priority list. The fact that he has acquired these nuclear weapons, the fact that he has proliferated technology, obviously there's the Syrian facility--he needs to be encouraged by the recognition."
We jumped to another nuclear aspirant, Iran. McCain said that while he does not believe a nuclear Iran is inevitable, he is growing more concerned about a regional war if diplomacy fails. "I think that we have a situation of greater and greater tension as they get closer according to all objective reporting, including the IAEA, to the acquisition of nuclear weapons and the possibility of military action on the part of the Israelis we know increases. That could create a situation of crisis in the Middle East that is heretofore of unknown proportions."
Our discussion, which ran about 25 minutes, focused mostly on national security and foreign policy issues--topics that have gotten lost in the 24-hour-a-day coverage of the economic meltdown. McCain politely answered my questions on these issues but often tried to bring the conversation back to the economy. At one point, I asked him if he was struck, as I have been, by the fact that foreign policy and national security issues have virtually disappeared from the campaign trail despite the fact that the country has been so focused on those issues for the past seven years.
"I think that there are major national security challenges we face. But people are having trouble staying in their homes, can't keep their jobs, can't afford their health care. I think it's understandable people would say what's happening halfway around the world is not as important to me as my family's economic security. I think it's unfortunate, but I think it's understandable."
The campaign's focus groups have underscored this new reality. "You know when we do these groups of Americans," McCain says, "and say we're going to win in Iraq and succeed in Afghanistan? Hey Great! If you ask them what priority one through ten are--the top nine are economic."
If the current political environment requires such a focus on economic issues, though, McCain says that national leaders cannot afford to neglect the rest of the world. "During the Great Depression one of the reasons why we paid little attention and became much more isolationist is because of our own internal domestic challenges in the Great Depression. In hindsight, that was a mistake. As president I would continue to focus on those issues, but I understand where the attention of the majority of Americans are today."
The McCain campaign has been criticized over the past six weeks for what many see as a lack of a coherent message. So I asked McCain about his basic message.
TWS: When an undecided voter walks into the polling booth two weeks from now, is there a two-sentence message that you want them to think about from these last two weeks of the campaign as they make their decision?
McCain: Fundamental philosophy between myself and Senator Obama about the role of government. In our case it is diametrically opposed. He wants to spread the wealth around. I want to create jobs. He wants to have government give away money. I'd rather have Americans grow the economy and create jobs. He started in the left lane of American politics and has remained there. And I have a long record of reform. I've worked to put my country first. And three words that I hope they remember: reform, prosperity, and peace. Who can they trust--to pick--to achieve those three goals?"
McCain's answer is revealing both for what is there and, as in his answer to Chris Wallace, what is not.
Stephen F. Hayes, a senior writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD, is the author of Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President (HarperCollins).
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