Take On the Talking Heads
McCain the Phony
by Garry Wills
Feb. 17, 2000 -- Why is John McCain a phony? Let me count the ways -- some of them (my space is limited).
1. He tells us he is a straight shooter, one who does not go by polls or what people want to hear. But when asked about the Confederate flag in South Carolina, he answers that state polls show Carolinians do not want outsiders telling them what to do, and he will honor the polls. Well, Iowans did not want outsiders attacking their ethanol fetish, but McCain did, and he said that would be the pattern for his responses. He would say what he believes. Now, we know what he believes about the Confederate flag -- that it is a symbol of hate. He blurted that out before his campaign managers said he must stop saying what he believes if he wants votes in South Carolina. So he stopped.
2. McCain boasts that he does not need endorsements the way George W. Bush does. He struts along with only a few of his fellow senators backing him. But he has sought and won the endorsement of Richard Quinn, the editor of a racist journal in South Carolina. That is the equivalent of saying, "I am too pure to get along with politicians, but I have no problem being chummy with a racist."
3. He claims to be fighting the moneyed interests, this chairman of the Commerce Committee who takes free rides in corporate airplanes. But he has been a good servant to big business. The Chamber of Commerce gave his voting record 100 percent approval in 1997. His rating from the liberal ADA was 5 percent.
4. On abortion, his voting record has been as conservative as it could be. But once again he blurted out the truth when, answering a hypothetical question, he said he would let his 15-year-old daughter choose whether to have an abortion (after talking it over). Then, as on the flag, he went back to the line his campaign team told him he must adhere to, no matter what he believes.
5. On gays, he talks about tolerance, though gay congressman Barney Frank says his voting record is 100 percent anti-gay. Here, too, what he blurted out in candor he later denied in calculation: After saying he could spot a gay when he saw one, he claimed that he only knew about gays when they told him, years later, that they were gay. That does not at all fit his first statement. I don't know how accurate McCain's "gaydar" is, but I trust Barney Franks' anti-gay detector.
6. McCain says now that he has seen the light on Dr. King's birthday, which he opposed for years. That is the light that dawns on people when they start to run for president. His first reaction was probably the sincere one, as in the case of the flag, abortion and gays. Otherwise, how could he stomach the current partnership with Richard Quinn?
7. He presents himself now as an enemy of lobbyists, but he gets along just fine with the most pernicious lobby of them all, the National Rifle Association.
McCain probably does not trim or spin or backtrack more than other politicians. But not doing that is his whole and sole claim at the moment. On the issues, he has little to offer. He is denying his right-wing record, but not assuaging Republican establishment fears of a maverick.
He says he wants to change campaign financing, but he has been unable to get even mild support for that from his party while he is in Congress. How could he do better when he is out of it? The Republicans would still oppose him as president. The Democrats would not deliver their votes to an anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-business president. He is not running to accomplish anything. He is running to be liked. Well, he is likable -- a likable phony.
Copyright © 2000 Universal Press Syndicate
