McCain gets grilled on 'The View'
Posted: Friday, September 12, 2008 3:21 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC's Abby Livingston
This morning, it was a scene on “The View.”
With gender issues and campaign rhetoric reaching a near boil, McCain sat on the hot seat of the couch on this popular daytime talk show.
McCain laughed, not flinched, when co-host Joy Behar said off the bat, “I said to him before that I believe that after -- if he's elected, he will go back to the old John McCain that he used to be unless the Republican base has him by the short hairs. “
And the questions only grew more heated. Despite the fact that McCain has been a regular on the morning show circuit for years, and loves to engage with angry town hall-ers, it was from this gang of women -- including a movie star and stand-up comedian -- that McCain faced some of his fiercest questioning of this campaign season.
On the topic of Palin, Barbara Walters asked, “What is she going to reform, specifically, senator?”
McCain replied, “First of all, earmark spending, which she vetoed a half a billion dollars worth in the state of Alaska.”
Walters said, “She also took some earmarks.”
McCain replied, “No. Not as governor, she didn't. She vetoed -- “ Walters interjected, “As mayor.”
(In fact, as the AP and others have noted, Palin requested nearly $200 million in earmarks this year alone, although that amount is down from previous years.)
McCain followed up with, “Uh, well, look, the fact is that she was a reform governor, she took on a Republican governor of her own -- incumbent governor of her own party and defeated him. She sold the airplane. She fired the chef.”
Walters then said, “She sold the airplane at a loss.”
McCain, amid audience laughter, said, “Well, you wanted her to keep it?”
Walters sighed and said, “No, I wanted her to at least get her money back.”
Then Joy Behar jumped in, confronting McCain about the controversial ads his campaign released this week. She said, “There are ads running from your campaign. One of them is saying that Obama, when he said, 'You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig' was talking about Sarah. There's another that says that Obama was interested in teaching sex education to kindergartners. Now we know that those two ads are untrue. They're lies. And yet, you at the end of it, say, 'I approved these messages.' Did you really approve them?”
McCain disagreed with the angle of the question. “Actually, they're not lies. “
Walters then pushed McCain on his past use of the lipstick and pigs expression, but he conveyed that it was apples and oranges because he was talking “about a health care plan.” Walters then countered, “Yeah, but he [Obama] talked about change. He wasn’t talking about Sarah Palin.”
McCain then said, “Sen. Obama chooses his words very carefully. OK? He shouldn't have said it. He shouldn't have said it. He chooses his words very carefully. And this is a tough campaign, but I would be glad to come on this show with Sen. Obama. I have asked Sen. Obama to join me in town hall meetings all across America.
Behar added, “That would be good for Sarah and Joe Biden, too.”
McCain answered, “That would be -- yes. Sure, the top of ticket leads, and if we had done what I asked Sen. Obama to do, because I've been in a lot of other campaigns where I have appeared with the opposition, in front of the people and listening to their hopes and dreams and aspirations. I don't you'd see the tenor of this campaign.
The issue ended when Walters said, “You bring us Sarah Palin, we'll ask Barack Obama.”
After commercial, the conversation shifted to abortion. When asked about the issue, McCain said, “I believe Roe v. Wade was a very bad decision.” And the predominantly female audience groaned. He continued, “I think it was a very bad decision, but I've thought that other decisions of the United States Supreme Court were bad decisions.”
Later, when his wife Cindy joined him on the couch, she too, was pressed on the issue. She said, “Well, I'm pro-life. I always have been.” Walters asked if that sentiment excepted rape and incest, Cindy answered, “Yes. My husband and I agree on this issue.”
The McCains were then pressed on their real estate holdings. Walters asked, “How many houses do you have?”
Cindy replied, “You know something, that's not part of this campaign. we're fortunate to come from a family, in particular, my dad and my mom who worked very hard to give me the best they could. and we are fortunate to be able to live a good life and to share and give to other people who are not as fortunate.”
