Fact-checking McCain

Posted: Thursday, January 24, 2008 11:26 PM by Mark Murray

From NBC's Mark Murray and Chris Donovan
McCain said a few things tonight that set off our fact-checking alarms. The first came when NBC's Tim Russert asked him this: "Senator McCain, you have said repeatedly, quote, 'I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.' Is it a problem for your campaign that the economy is now the most important issue, one that by your own acknowledgment you're not well versed on?"

McCain replied, "Actually, I don't know where you got that quote from."

Actually, the quote came from a 2005 piece by Stephen Moore, in which McCain said: “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics that I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.”

McCain also said this, per a December 2007 Boston Globe article: "The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should. I’ve got Greenspan’s book.”

Another McCain remark, answering a question on why some Republicans aren't enthusiastic about his bid, also raised our eyebrows: "But, look, I won the majority of Republican vote in both New Hampshire and South Carolina."

Well, according to the exit polls, Huckabee slightly beat McCain among self-identified South Carolina Republicans, 32%-31%. And Romney slightly beat him among self-identified New Hampshire Republicans, 35%-34%. The independent vote in both states was instrumental in putting McCain over the top in those contests.

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Comments

TO SUSAN IN MA;Good job- I was disappointed that no one asked McCain about his position on IMMIGRATION- or anyone else for that matter- only Romney mentioned it in passing- ANd now the photo of REZCO&theBILLARY I am sure they will tap dance their way out of that one too!! I bet REZCO had to pay for that picture- and they are already nailing Obama over his "17" connection- what about Bill and Hill's none-stop life of political crime?? I'm voting for Romney but if Obama agrees to be the Hill's VP the tiny bit of respect I had for this guy even going against the Clinton machine will be flushed right down the toilet!! Anyway susan in MA you should paste that vote on SS for illegals on all the blogs

JUSTME IN ALABAMA (Sent Friday, January 25, 2008 10:39 AM)

It does not matter which republican wins the primary.They are a pack of old dogs still cheering for the way Bush has destroyed the countryI do make an exception for Ron Paul.The unfairness he has been treated to by the media is embarrassing.But the way russert continued to allow romney to talk and talk and talk was atelling whose butt he was kissing.By the way Romney claimed that Clinton has been running washington for the past how many years?He should be told that Bush has been the leader of the this downtrodden country for over 7 years.How smart is he or how dumb are we?

HMT-MI (Sent Friday, January 25, 2008 12:13 PM)

Kossiacks- in case you missed it, the "whisper" is a non-story. Why, you may ask... because the "info" supposedly passed in the whisper was also provided in the QUESTION- they asked Romney if he would RAISE TAXES LIKE REAGAN to take care of Social Security. Supposedly the whisper said "he raised taxes". So it's a non story because it didn't help Romney or anyone else. Let's not make something out of nothing. Conspiracy theories are tiresome.

I also picked up on McCain's errors in the debate and commented on them to my husband. If he doesn't know the exit polls in the states where he won, then he's not really prepared to keep running.

Opa- yes, someone can learn about the economy in two years (although not as well as someone who has been working in it for 40). But the fact of the matter is, he didn't. In this article, it also sites the 2007 article in the Boston globe where he talked about it. December 2007 was last month. It DOES take more than a month to get a firm grip on econ. Just naming a million advisors doesn't cut it. I'm no Ron Paul fan, but he was right on in his zing towards McCain on this topic... Regardless of his current economic knowledge, McCain was lying when he suggested that he had never said that that was a weak point of his. So much for the "straight talk".

Kira, Utah (Sent Friday, January 25, 2008 2:30 PM)

John S-

Huckabee only got 1 minute more than Paul and Giuliani only got 1 minute more than Huck. Do the facilitators owe them apologies too? Romney got the most contraversial questions... what about that? McCain lied to the commentator... what about that?

Life isn't fair. Get over it. The candidates who stand the best chance in Florida got more coverage. Ron Paul did well with the time he had, but he didn't say anything different, new or more illuminating than what he has said in every other debate.

Kira, Utah (Sent Friday, January 25, 2008 2:33 PM)

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