Lindsey Graham finds path to nomination -- sink John McCain's boat
We've known for a while that Lindsey Graham and John McCain are something of political soul mates, as well as Senate colleagues. But a one-liner from Graham a little while ago makes us wonder (not too seriously, or deeply) whether he harbors secret ambitions.
Graham and Joe Lieberman are traveling with McCain on his two-country tour of Latin America, but this morning were shunted to the press boat (think of kids and the small table at Thanksgiving) for a tour by the entourage of the Port of Cartagena. McCain was in another vessel -- a faster, drug-interdiction speedboat called the Midnight Express (which for the moment could have been called the Straight Talk at Midnight Express).
The press boat chugged alongside McCain's boat for about 10 minutes as the presidential candidate and his wife, Cindy McCain, were briefed by port officials. Then both boats cruised out to open water, where they separated a bit. Graham, hopefully out of earshot of the Secret Service detail, pointed across the waves to McCain's craft and said, "Sink that boat!"
He then added: "I could get the nomination if you sink that boat."
A reporter asked if the comment was on the record, and Graham said no (sorry, senator, but nothing is off the record with pool reporters along). Graham also suggested the two boats play a little chicken.
Lieberman? Not so quippy -- he just occasionally waved at McCain during the 15 minutes at sea.
-- Scott Martelle
Photo credit: Associated Press
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
Subscribe to this Blog
Is McCain really trying to win this? Doesn't seem like it. He's visiting Columbia? What purpose is this supposed to serve? Why not just go to the South Pole?
Obama is addressing large crowds of American voters in Las Vegas, garnering headlines and McCain is barely on the radar.....in Columbia, talking about NAFTA and free trade...to Columbians. Really makes you wonder.
Posted by: keith | July 02, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Considering foreign relations--in the Middle East just as much as elsewhere--are going to be a big part of the deciding factor in this election suggests this is a pretty intelligent decision on McCain's part.
Plus, you know, the whole economy thing. Obama has, unfortunately, aired a lot of heated anti-NAFTA rhetoric tied to this issue, so this sets McCain apart from him.
Posted by: Andrew | July 02, 2008 at 02:29 PM
He's in Colombia because Cindi's thinking of buying it as a vacation retreat for one of the kids. She'll put it on her AmEx card.
Posted by: Graham Fan | July 02, 2008 at 03:52 PM