Opinion: McCain’s mixed message
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On Friday, John McCain opened the latest new phase of his troubled presidential campaign by stressing in New Hampshire --- where opposition to the Iraq war runs especially high --- that he remains foresquare behind President Bush’s troop-surge plan.
On Saturday, as he wrapped up a swing through the all-important state, he took Bush on, criticizing the administration on global warming.
One thing about the Republican senator from Arizona, you can’t say that he’s a slave to consistency.
The Times Michael Finnegan was with McCain as he traveled to the rural town of Claremont and reports that the candidate opened a forum at a veterans hall with negative words about Bush’s approach to climate change.
‘I’m not happy that the Bush administration ignored this issue for a long period of time,’ McCain said. Reiterating his call for expansion of nuclear, solar and wind power, he said the U.S. must work more closely with other nations to reverse global warming. He added: ‘I’m convinced that it can be incredibly serious, and every day we wait in order to act will be a day that we cannot reclaim.’
McCain took questions for more than an hour from the crowd of about 100, and was warmly received. But outside the hall, there was a clear sign of his diminished status in the state he took by storm during the 2000 primary season. A heckler wearing a McCain rubber mask was there to greet his entourage, holding out a tin cup and wearing a sandwich board that read, ‘My campaign spends money like a drunken sailor.’
The barb not only referred to the financial problems afflicting McCain’s campaign, but was a play on one of his tried-and-true laugh lines: after accusing Congress of spending money like a drunken sailor, he likes to say that he received a letter from a Navy vet with a drinking problem who said he resented the comparsion.
After spending Sunday at home in Arizona, McCain heads to Northern California Monday for a town hall meeting in Santa Clara.
-- Don Frederick