McCain opened today's call by expressing some satisfaction with recent polls giving him a lead in a head to head match-up against Obama. He also took the opportunity to hit Obama again over his comments in the most recent Democratic debate that he would consider moving troops back into Iraq if al Qaeda was establishing a base there. McCain said "not only might al Qaeda establish a base there, al Qaeda has a base there and in the words of General Petraeus it is now the central battleground in the struggle against radical Islamic extremism. I agree with him, and al Qaeda is one the run but they are not defeated in Iraq."
He then took questions. Geraghty always posts something resembling a transcript, so check that out if you want the minutes of the call. Of particular interest...
Powerline's Paul Mirengoff asked McCain if he had a response to today's George Will column, noting that Will had characterized McCain as a man of "towering moral vanity." McCain responded that "we will have to agree to disagree on this specific issue of campaign finance reform." Mirengoff also asked whether it was true that McCain had refused to shake hands with FEC commissioner Brad Smith. McCain didn't hesitate, "it's true...there was no reason to shake his hand, he had basically attacked my character...I'm certainly not ashamed or embarrassed that if someone attacks my character and integrity, no I'm not going to shake their hand."
I asked McCain whether he had any comment on the New York Philharmonic's North Korea tour and, more generally, on the status of the Six Party talks.
I have concerns, very grave concerns...the facility in Syria, according to published reports, had the earmarks of North Korean involvement. They continue some of the illicit activities around the world, and most offensively the abuse of the human rights of their own people. I wish some of the people who are barely surviving, if they're surviving, in the largest remaining gulag in the world would have had the chance to see the philharmonic perform, rather than a chosen 1,400 or whatever it was....
Next up was a guy whose name I can't get right even after listening to the tape a few times, but he had a hell of a question. It sounded like he was reading from a lengthy prepared text, but it boiled down to this: does John McCain know the difference between MySpace and YouTube. You'll all be delighted to know that he does. And he noted that YouTube is a reservoir of embarrassment--"John Edwards can attest to that (click it, you know you want to watch it again)." McCain would later remember that his campaign has a MySpace page.
Contentions blogger Jennifer Rubin asked McCain to comment on the Democratic debate over NAFTA, and McCain responded by warning against protectionism:
"I would make a strong argument that history shows that every time we've engaged in protectionism, we have paid a very heavy price for it. And by the way, holding out the Colombia free trade agreement, I think is reprehensible on the part of the Democrats. Denying one of our closest allies in the entire hemisphere free trade status, and if we don't, I think that's going to send a message to other countries in the hemisphere. I cannot be more adamant in my support of free trade.
Geraghty asked McCain how long Americans should expect troops to remain in Iraq in light of McCain's comment that American troops could be there for 100 years. Geraghty also asked how Americans will know when we've reached a turning point. McCain responded that we'd already reached a turning point "when the surge started succeeding." McCain then offered his standard defense of the earlier comment in pointing to the permanent basing of American forces in Germany, South Korea, Kuwait, etc. He went on, "when we can quote declare victory, I'm not sure when that happens, because the Iraqis, I think, will be struggling with al Qaeda for a long time...but the way that we are progressing, which is astonishingly rapid...I can envision an operation some time from now where all the United States would do is supply air support as needed."
Geraghty followed up asking would it be possible to achieve this kind of "victory" during his hypothetical presidency. McCain responded "absolutely, I understand the frustration of the American people...it was mishandled for a long period of time, but I was pleased to see a USA Today poll that at least more people, I think it was up to 43 percent, believe the surge is succeeding, and it's a lower number now that think it's not. That's the first time we've seen that kind of number in public polling."
On the final question, McCain said "anybody who is counting the Clintons out has made a bad mistake."
