John McCain on The View:

He jokes with Whoopi for being overdressed- always a good opener. Whoopi has a nickname for him- Jack Mac.  He likes it.

McCain opens with a comment on the polygamist compound-the key is get information to people- information is knowledge and knowledge is power.

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I don’t know how you mandate polygamist leaders to provide the Internet to the young people on their compounds but it would be great…

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BW: Most Americans oppose war- there have been increased violence… what are you seeing that others are not seeing

McCain’s responses, paraphrased in a nutshell:

·         The war was mishandled in the beginning

·         He detests war

·         If we set a date for withdrawal we would pay a very heavy price and we would be back. 

·         Iraq- no matter what it was in the beginning, we are there now

·         Rule of law is the hardest thing… Iraq has made dramatic progress but has a long way to go

·         Consequences of failure, in his view, are so catastrophic that we have to continue the current strategy, which he thinks is working

BW- refers to comments made by Colin Powell describing the U.S. Armed Forces as very, very stressed and expressing his concern about extended tours and his belief that we don’t have enough troops, and that the military is stretched beyond its necessary capacity to protect American interests around the world.

McCain agrees with the concern and explains that one of the mistakes we have made is we have reduced size of military since the first Gulf War:  some branches are now 1/3 smaller than they used to be.

McCain further explains: “There’s only thing worse than a stressed military and that’s a defeated military.”

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Excellent point…

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McCain went on to praise our volunteer military and assert we need to address ways to make the military more attractive to people by offering more opportunity for education and other inducements to serve. He also makes the argument that all Americans should find ways to serve this country, by choice. They can join the Peace Corp, teach, volunteer… everyone should serve.

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He is right…

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Joy:  I have a question I am really concerned about-Anyway- here’s my question- I’ve been reading all about you and all about – you know, I don’t like George Bush, as a President and I think he was one of the worst Presidents we’ve ever had- okay don’t applaud ( to the audience) please don’t- Let me just get through this question. I want to know- since you are for his tax cuts for the wealthy, that you are for staying in Iraq, that you are against Roe v. Wade therefore Supreme Court justices may come in and overturn women’s rights and in fact that you have hired Karl Rove as one of your campaign advisors which is like hiring Mike Tyson to be your body guard. How are you different from George Bush?

JM-First of all, we have not hired Karl Rove- I’ve spoken to him once in the last year or so.

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FIRST THINGS FIRST: He distances himself from Rove, who is, apparently, way more politically dangerous than Bush…

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McCain continues: Second of all, I respect President Bush- we have a friendly relationship.  There are issues that we have disagreed on: The conduct of the war for four years, spending, and climate change. There is a list of issues that we have open and honest disagreements, keeping with the overall philosophy of less government is better government, lower taxes, strong national defense, etc, etc.   We share a common philosophy but on an issue for example, such as climate change, I think it’s real, I think we’ve got to do something about it, I think we have to act quickly.

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Here’s the best statement:

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McCain: I think we have to have a global agreement with India and China included because we’re going to hand off a planet that’s damaged to the next generation

Joy: So you would have gone along with the Kyoto Agreement, wouldn’t you?

McCain: As long as India and China were part of it.

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Good luck there…  

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He continues: As you know, they’re the greatest emitters.

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No, I’m sure she doesn’t know and has never even considered that the U.S. is not the sole problem re: global warming- wait- climate change is the new term…

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McCain again: But I would have been very active in getting them included in the global agreement

Joy: And on immigration.  Are you similar to him?

McCain: Well, yes, because I believe that we need to have a comprehensive approach. Look we lost in the Senate because of opposition to it.

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No, actually, the United States won in the Senate- John McCain and pro illegal alien Senators lost in the Senate.  He still does not get this…

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McCain continues: We have to secure our borders. Borders have to be secured. And we have to have a temporary worker program that works, and I’ll make this brief- but we also have to address the issue in a humane and compassionate fashion.  These are God’s children, okay, they are God’s children and I think we can address it in a comprehensive fashion after we have secured the borders but it is a federal responsibility and we have abrogated our responsibilities.

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What does that mean, “They are God’s children”?” Aren’t all people God’s children?  

Is there any limit to the number of God’s children we have to let into our country?

Aren’t all criminals God’s children?  Should we ignore all law breakers or just the law breakers with whom McCain sympathizes?

Should we promote public policy that helps to move third world countries toward capitalism rather than socialism? Is that possible, when those countries are losing their young and strong workers to the United States? John McCain’s immigration policies actually undermine the stability of the countries from where these illegal aliens flee.

Maybe the current rise in unemployment and the recession we are hearing about may be what it takes to convince Americans that illegal immigration must stop. We can’t afford the social service, medical and educational costs of caring for illegal aliens and their children when we can’t provide for the people of the United States.

McCain is right on a lot of things but not on this issue…

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He then went on to rightly explain the importance of national security, the stabilization of the economy and volunteerism and service to the nation.  He discounted his lack of knowledge about the economy and asserted that he knows more about the economy than either of the senators against whom he will be running.

EH asked about the possibility of a McCain/Rice ticket.  He rightly praised Rice and her intellect and her service to the country but skirted the topic.  It’s way too soon…